


Written In The Stars

by alex4968



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Blood, Dark Plot, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Hand Jobs, Harry is kind of an asshole at first, He was raised differently than Zayn was, Human Louis, Human Niall, M/M, Mild Gore, Rimming, Slow Build, Spanking, Top!Harry, Vampire AU, Vampire Harry, Vampire Liam, Vampire Zayn, Vampires, all that sex stuff you know, bottom!Louis, but I promise he gets better, harry has some... daddy vibes, he's just confused, inequality within society, rape mention (doesn't happen but tagging just in case)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-14 23:38:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 71,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8033452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alex4968/pseuds/alex4968
Summary: It was so different - the complete opposite of everything Louis had ever expected about finally being placed into the real world. Zayn defied every single thing he'd ever been told about vampires, about how he was supposed to be treated. This was nothing like what he'd expected. [or: Zayn's the third oldest vampire in the world and found himself searching out the company of a human, so he took Louis as his keep. His maker Harry doesn't approve.]





	1. Prologue.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Please read this before you begin reading this story:
> 
> This is one of my first works that plays with a bit darker subject matter. Things in this verse could be considered very inappropriate to some readers. That said, there will be NO: Rape/non-con or underage sexual content. Louis is taken from where he resided while he is fourteen - but my promise of no underage sexual content will withstand. The prologue is the only time he's in the story under the age of 18. The darker subject matter rests in the laws and the treatment of the humans in this verse and if you find any of the things in this story troubling that I failed to tag, _please_ tell me so I can tag it for other readers. 
> 
> That said, enjoy!

_The choices we make change the path that we take_  
_But I know_  
_That somewhere out there there's a path that we chose_  
_There's a life that we share, there's a love and it grows_

\- Zayn Malik, Golden.

Louis’ eyes opened slowly as a bright light filled the room. He blinked a few times, adjusting his eyes to being awake before he pulled himself from the bed. His door was still locked – he knew that without even having to check – so he just stretched his back and rolled his neck. It was always the same routine in the mornings – the same schedule of finding himself awake far before there were any other noises in the halls and the same schedule of the waiting game he always played with the staff members.

The lights were what he figured woke him up every morning, having always been a light sleeper, but he knew they existed so they could get the vitamins from the lights. Some kind of special lamp that mimicked the sunlight but the vampires could stand under it and not be harmed. It had always made his head spin, really, but things like that were the things he’d long since stopped questioning.  
He sat on his bed and started counting the tiles lining the walls. All of the rooms in this place were the same – single beds with simple wooden floors and tiled walls. He counted the tiles to keep track of the time in his own way, since they weren’t given clocks. Every time he could count all three hundred and fifty three on the wall directly across from his bed, five minutes went by. He counted two hundred before Liam came in.

“You’re awake early again.” The large-framed vampire said. He’d always been one of Louis’ favorites, one of the few who treated him well and helped him formulate some kind of a childhood behind the walls of this place. Louis just chewed his lip and nodded, unsure what to say. Most of the time Liam was just as silent as he was; they often just bonded through their mutual dislike of talking with others, or when they were both in the mood to talk, they could talk for longer than they were supposed to. Liam rocked on his heels before he ran a hand through his hair. Louis furrowed an eyebrow.

“You’re nervous.” He knew Liam’s ticks, just like Liam knew his. It was, of course, Liam’s _job_ to know his ticks, to keep him in line, but the only way he’d opened up to the other man was when he’d done the same in return. That was how they began their friendship – even if it was a strange friendship.

“Not nervous, really. Um. I just. You have three suitors who want to look at you tonight.” Louis looked back to the wall. _Three._ He’d known for years that the day would come that he’d been taken away from this place, away from everything he’d ever really known, but the reality felt much worse. He’d only been looked at once before – by a strange vampire who’d been disgusted in his lack of conversation skills – and ever since there’d been nothing.

Human girls were of age to be taken at age fifteen, boys were of age at thirteen. At fourteen, Louis knew it was a blessing that he’d gotten the extra year away from the unknown world that way beyond him.

“I’ll never see you again, will I?” It was the same question he’d asked a year ago. The last time he’d had tears in his eyes and snot running out of his nose, but this time the pain was numbing any reaction he could even think of.

“I don’t know, Lou.” It was the same answer as last time, too, except this time Liam wrapped his fingers around Louis’ smaller wrist and squeezed softly, a comforting reminder that he was here now, and the future was uncertain, but it would be fine. “I’ve to go wake the others. I’ll be back to collect you for breakfast in three counts.” Liam gave a little smile. Liam had been the one that helped him measure the time that it took for him to count the tiles – he was one of the only ones that understood that he needed some kind of time frame for many things in his life or he’d feel trapped. He really was a gift and Louis should have admitted how grateful he was for him more often.

 

Right as he ended his third count, the doors opened again. Liam was accompanied by a human girl Louis had never seen before. She looked young – maybe about five. “This is Lilian. She’s going to stick with you and I for today, since she’s a new arrival.” Louis’ heart went out for the girl.

He tried not to wonder what her family got in return for leaving her here. He’d always wondered what made his family do it – but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle the truth if he knew it.

“Hello Lilian, I’m Louis.” He said with a small wave, followed with a smile. She was one of the ones that would later be called _Originals._ Louis was an _Original._ It was a title many of the vampires who took humans from here thirsted over – humans who had little human influence in their lives.

It was another thing Louis tried not to think about.

As they went to the cafeteria to get food, Liam pulled out a little plastic bag from his pocket. “I brought you some of those mint candies you liked. But you can’t eat them until after you’ve had your breakfast.” Louis was sure his grin was as wide as both of his ears.

“Thank you, Liam.” Louis hugged him – another thing that no one batted an eye at when an _Original_ did it. Their only source of affectionate touch was from the staff here. He’d been told why they allowed it a long time ago, but he couldn’t remember anymore.

He didn’t finish all of his breakfast, but Liam gave him two of the candies anyway right before everyone was sent off to their rooms for free time and he couldn’t stop the smile.

Lilian wasn’t assigned a room yet, so she stayed with Louis. He let her draw with the pen he usually used to make his journal entries, but it kept her occupied and kept her from asking questions Louis didn’t want to answer, so he wasn’t too worried about it. She’d grow up too quickly just like he had and she’d figure out what helped her cope just like he had. It was a part of life for the _Originals._

It was just another thing on the list of things Louis didn’t like to think about.

 

“Are you ready?” There were two others who’d been marked with interest from suitors for that Saturday. One of them was called Amelia – a girl he’d spoken to a few times before. The other he’d seen but never spoken to. She was new. Louis’ jealousy of the ones who weren’t abandoned here before their fifteenth birthdays often kept him from speaking to them.

“No.” Liam squeezed his wrist softly and Louis calmed with the gesture, slumping back in the chair he’d been given.

“I’ve taken a look at all three of them.” Liam started. He knew the vampire had a tendency to test out a touchy topic with Louis before he continued talking about it. He was always sensitive of his emotions in that way; Louis was grateful.

“Are they alright?”

“Yeah. None of them have purchased here before – none have a track of killing their keeps.”

“Oh, joy.” Louis said with a sigh. He could feel the tears pricking at his eyes. The reality that just the fact that he would be alive could be considered a _privilege_ in a few days made his stomach churn. He was quiet a while, thoughts swirling around his head as the silence filled the room again. “I’m scared.” It was barely a whisper, but he knew Liam heard it by the way he put a hand over his.

“It’ll be fine, Lou. Everything will work out.” He just nodded. There was nothing else he could do.

 

There was a clock in the room he was told to wait in. For that, he was beyond grateful. He was the last of three to be in the room, Liam having left to tend to something else and he was alone. Lilian was with someone else since she wasn’t allowed to see this process until her tenth birthday. The _Originals_ were kept sheltered from their reality until they were mature enough to understand.

But the seconds ticked on and they felt like _hours._ The nerves felt like fire under his skin as he waited. There were supposed to be three of them – and it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to meet all three. It was almost two in the morning – two and a half hours before he was supposed to be asleep.

The door clicked and he jumped, palms sweaty. It was only Liam, who seemed to notice his anxiety as he gave a sympathetic smile but motioned for him to come out. Louis stood, feet taking him forward even though his mind was shouting to run back to his little bedroom and hide under the covers like he used to when he was smaller.

“This first one is nice, I promise. I’ve just spent the last few minutes speaking with him.” Louis wanted to trust Liam, he did, but it was just common sense that vampires treated humans differently than they treated each other.

But Liam turned out to be right.

He was a younger vampire, that much Louis had learned to be able to tell from how they held themselves. But he had been changed at an older mortal age – which made Louis question a lot of things, but those were the things he’d always been taught to _never_ ask. Ever. He was called Nick Grimshaw and explained the things he wanted from Louis and just gave a small smile when Louis seemed panicked because he knew he couldn’t give him the things he was asking. Family. Intelligence. A home keeper.

“You seem scared.”

“I –“ He stopped himself. Only speak when prompted, he had to remind himself of that often.

“You can speak to me, Louis. I’m not going to get angry if you speak to me freely.”

“I can’t do some of the things you want. If you um. Chose me. As your keep.”

“Why’s that?”

“I can’t read well. I don’t have much of a concept of family and – I wouldn’t – Know how to raise one.”

“How long have you been here?” That was one piece of information he knew wasn’t given away on their initial profiles here, simply because it kept the vampires who were trying to steal innocence from being able to do it.

“Since I was three.” Nick nodded.

“I hope you find someone good for you, Louis. You’re a sweet boy, I can tell. Be well.”

“Be well.” He responded and the air left his lungs. Liam fetched him after he didn’t return to the back room when he was supposed to, the lecture he gave him tuned out by the ringing in his ears.

The second meeting didn’t happen for another hour. It was about the same as how the first had gone, except that vampire had been much less respectful of his humanity. She’d called him a few slur terms, categorizing him with every other human and calling him worthless when she realized he couldn’t give her what she wanted. He didn’t let himself cry.

By the third meeting, he was exhausted. It was a half hour passed the time he was normally fast asleep and his eyes were dropping. Liam shoved a cup of coffee in his hands ten minutes before he was expected to meet this one – a man, he expected by Liam’s use of pronouns – but he was just assuming defeat at that point.

There was a little piece of him that hoped he’d be rejected forever. If he wasn’t claimed by his eighteenth birthday, he’d be changed and allowed to work at the facility. It was what he’d be expected to do for thirty or so years before he’d have his true freedom, but it was something he thought about regularly.

He finished half of the cup before he was being ushered out of the room for the third time and placed in front of an attractive, younger vampire. He was older. Very old, if Louis could tell properly. It made his skin crawl.

“Hello.” The vampire said with a smile and reached out his hand. Louis looked at his outstretched hand in confusion, shame building in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know what that gesture meant – he’d already failed. The vampire just smiled softly. “You’re an _Original_ aren’t you?” Louis nodded. “That’s alright, see you just take your hand and,” he put their hands together and shook them up and down. “It’s a form of greeting.”

“Thank you for showing me that.”

“You can call me Zayn, alright? You’re Louis, yes?”

“Yes.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, Louis.” He was in foreign territory. Never once had a vampire that seemed so old treated him with such respect. “You can speak freely to me. Ask any questions you’d like. I want for you to be comfortable with me, alright? If I am to chose you, I want you to, at least in a way, chose me, too. Alright?”

“I –“ He was overwhelmed. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” He took a breath. “Where are you from?”

“Here, in the UK.” Louis smiled and looked Zayn over once again.

“What are the drawings on your skin?”

“Tattoos?” Zayn’s eyebrows furrowed. “Oh – yeah.” Louis hated that he didn’t understand some of the basic things that came from the outside. “They’re drawings, like you said, except they’re permenant. They’ll never go away. They’ll fade, eventually, but when that happens I just get them redone. It’s done with a needle and ink so the ink gets put beneath the skin.”

“That sounds painful.” Louis said with a little laugh.

“It is, a little bit. But it’s worth it.” Louis wasn’t sure he’d ever been able to hold out a conversation like this with any vampire aside from Liam.

“What would you want from me if you chose me?” It was a bold question. A question he wasn’t strictly forbidden to ask, but it was taboo – something that the vampires usually only disclosed if they wanted to.

“Companionship. I’m quite old, and with age comes loneliness. You seem like the kind of person I’d enjoy being around.” Louis could say the same. He knew Zayn was old – but he was the nicest old vampire he’d ever met. It made him happy.

 

He was ushered back to the waiting room he’d been in once Zayn and him were finished. They’d ended up speaking with each other for well over an hour, and when he was allowed back in the waiting room, he’d fallen asleep. He wasn’t too worried about the future anymore. Even if Zayn didn’t chose him, he’d at least gained a little faith that there were such things as kind, older vampires.

 

When he woke, it was to Liam once again. “He rejected me?” Was the first question – and he even winced at the sadness in his own voice. He’d never thought he’d be saddened by a rejection.

“No, Lou. He’s taking you.” His mouth opened in shock, but he just nodded.

“Lets go gather your things.” It was well past six in the morning, now, and Louis frowned. He wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to any of his friends that he’d grown fond of over the years. They were all fast asleep, dead to the world and unaware that he would be gone when they woke.

Walking to his room with a bag in his hand made the reality of how little he owned more true than he’d realized before. He had seven sets of clothing – seven shirts and seven pants. They did laundry once a week here. He had his journals – little scribbles of terribly misspelled words and drawings that had described eighty percent of his days since he had learned how to draw and write a few words that could show his feelings. He shoved all nine of his notebooks into the bag, followed by his clothing. His stuffed bear he’d been brought to the facility with was the only other thing he owned. Those items made up his entire life, and it was almost pitiful when it was all laid out in front of him.

But he didn’t mind.

Zayn was waiting in the biggest room of the facility he’d ever seen – what he assumed was the main enterance. He couldn’t remember being here before, so he probably hadn’t been. Not since he’d been brought here.

 

He felt like he was buzzing as the vampire seemed to be filling out various forms of paper. He sat on one of the chairs that were in rows by the front desk and just tried not to eavesdrop on his new owner and the receptionist's conversation. He'd gotten in enough trouble for listening in on people in the past, so it was something he often tried to avoid. Instead, he focused on the movement of his leg, rapidly shaking as it went up and down. He was nervous, excited, terrified, but  _happy._ He was so thankful he'd gotten Zayn as a keeper rather than one of the others he'd met. Vampires like that scared him. 

"Ready?" Zayn asked with a small smile, meeting Louis' eyes. Louis nodded, standing and walking behind the vampire until they reached a set of double doors. "Here, put these over your eyes. Since you haven't seen the sun before, when you walk outside it's going to hurt your eyes very badly. These should make it hurt a bit less." 

"It's light out?"

"Yeah." Zayn said, pushing the doors open. Louis was met with an extremely bright light, the doors practically  _glowing._ He was in awe. 

The shock was something he couldn’t entirely comprehend. The glasses over his eyes only kept the tears hidden until they fell below the rims of his glasses. He was _outside._ The air was freezing cold, bitter against every inch of his exposed skin, but everything was beautiful. It was bright – everything was so, so bright – and it was all so beautiful. There were trees. Real, living trees surrounding the entire building and gravel below his feet that crunched under each of his foot steps and so many colors.

It was overwhelming.

He knew his hands were shaking, trembling with the new surroundings that he’d seen only one other time in his life that he could remember. His lips were chewed so badly that he tasted blood.

“Why are you crying?” Came the soft  voice from beside him. He wasn’t even sure why he was crying – crying had always been something he thought was shameful and dirty – but it wouldn’t stop. “When was the last time you were outside?” Louis’ ears were ringing, and he had to blink again before he realized that the vampire – Zayn – had asked him a question.

“A long time ago.” Zayn didn’t respond after that, just kept walking until they came to a car of some kind. The vampire opened the door for him to the passengers’ seat and helped Louis inside, instructing him how to get his seatbelt on and around his body comfortable. The car rumbled to life when Zayn shoved the key inside and it made Louis jump, anxiety thrumming through his veins. Zayn looked at him with furrowed eye brows but didn’t say anything else for a while as he drove.

“Sleep, if you’d like. It’ll be a couple hours until we’re home. I’m sure you’re tired.”

 _Home._ Louis hoped he could understand that word for the full meaning one day. Taking Zayn's words to heart, he decided to sleep. He was tired, and maybe his brain needed the time to process everything that had happened. He was still slightly overwhelmed, the emotions running rampant in his head, but it would all be okay. He knew he would get through whatever came at him from here on out. 

 

When he woke again, it was still light out. The car was stopped and there were other people roaming about. Zayn was missing – the driver’s area of the car abandoned. They were parked under some kind of covering with machines that seemed to have hoses attached to them. Louis felt the panic building in his stomach before Zayn re-appeared from another building and got back into the car. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Louis had never heard a vampire that wasn’t Liam apologize.

“What is this place?”

“This is called a gas station. It’s what makes the cars go. They sell candies and drinks and other foods inside as well. I brought you some water and some mint candies that Liam said you liked. He was right, I hope?” Zayn gave him a bottle of water and a packet of mint candies and Louis felt dizzy.

This all felt like a dream.

 

He didn’t sleep again on the way back to Zayn’s home. He stared outside, watching the road beneath them and the things around them zip by in a blur of speed. He’d often ask Zayn what certain things were and what they did and what their purposes were, and the vampire would always answer. He didn’t seem to get annoyed, either. It made Louis’ heart swell.

“You’ve really never left that building then?” Zayn asked, finally asking a question about Louis. It seemed like he hadn’t asked anything really important.

“No. I um – I was left there by my parents when I was three.”

“I’m so sorry, Louis. That’s really awful. You don’t have to share with me anything you’re not comfortable sharing.”

“It’s alright. If you want to listen.”

“’Course I want to listen.”

“Well, I guess to answer your question, I’ve been outside one other time. Liam took me out once when he went to smoke. He said I had to keep it a secret because he would lose his job if I ever told anyone and he showed me the stars and let me touch the grass. That’s the only other time I’ve ever been outside.”

“And it was at night, wasn’t it?”

“I didn’t even know vampires could um – go outside in the day time.”

“It comes with age.”

“Can I ask you how old you are?”

“I’m almost nine hundred years old.” Louis’ eyes widened and Zayn just smiled. There was something so strange about Zayn – he didn’t act like a typical vampire. He let him ask all of the forbidden questions and he let him do things he wasn’t really following what he’d been told vampires were like his entire life.

It was messing with his head.

 

He didn’t really remember falling back asleep, every moment of daylight seemed like a precious treasure that he feared he’d never see again, but when he woke, it was to gentle tapping on his shoulder. “Hey, wake up. We’re home.” There was that word again. Louis’ heart fluttered.

Zayn undid his seatbelt and carried his bag inside for him, which made Louis smile again. Zayn house was beautiful. The inside was decorated with paintings and decorations that all tied together well and even Louis could appreciate that it was well put together. He didn’t have any experience in decoration – never having been allowed to even hang a drawing on a wall – but it all fit together beautifully.

“Here, I’ll show you some rooms and let you pick one, yeah?”

“Pick?” He said, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Yeah, pick one that you like. Whatever you think suits you best?” Louis nodded and followed Zayn up the stairs, following closely behind him as he took him into about seven different rooms. “Those are your choices. I have other rooms, of course, but they’re all either permanent rooms of friends who drop by sometimes or have things in them that I don’t want to move.”

“I really liked the third one.”

“Then that can be yours.” Louis was smiling again. The room faced a large, wooded area behind Zayn’s home that had a little path going through it that Louis could see from the window. It was small – a comforting aspect of the room that reminded him how he grew up – but had a fairly large bed. It wasn’t so big that it took up too much of the room to be an attractive set up, but rather it fit perfectly into the setting. It even had a dresser opposite the foot of the bed and a little side table fixed with a lamp and a _clock._ He could have cried again. “My room is two doors down to the left. All I ask is that you don’t go in there without my permission, yeah? That’s really my only rule.”

“Alright. Thank you, Zayn. For all of this. It’s so –“

“You don’t have to thank me. I chose you and you chose me, so you deserve everything here.” Louis smiled again. “I’m going to start cooking something for supper. I’m sorry we haven’t really had a proper meal today – tomorrow will be different.” Louis smiled again with a little nod.

“It’s all right. The craziness kind of made me not hungry.” Zayn smiled.

“We’re also both running on opposite our normal schedules, so I think I’ll just show you around the rest of the house when night falls, if that’s alright?”

“That sounds wonderful.” It was just passing noon now, the sun high in the sky. When Zayn left his room, the door wide open, he stared out the window. He couldn’t believe he had never seen the day light world before today – he couldn’t believe all of this was something people experienced every day. He’d had it taken away from him, but experiencing it all at once when he never had before made it all feel so much more _real._ He couldn’t imagine living in this world every single day.

Zayn made the both of them waffles. He knew vampires could eat human food – but it was usually only something the vampires did around him when he was younger, when he put up a fit and didn’t want to eat.

“You’re confused. Why?” Louis’ eyes snapped up to meet Zayn’s.

“What?”

“You really don’t know anything about vampires do you?” Louis shook his head. “We _can_ sense human emotions.” Oh. _Oh._ That actually made a lot of sense. Liam always had seemed to know what he’d been feeling. His face felt hot and he was embarrassed. So many things always seemed to be common knowledge to everyone except _him._ “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I just. Thought you knew, was all.”

“I don’t know much. I’m not very smart.”

“No, Louis. That’s where you’re wrong. You’re very smart, just uneducated. There’s a difference.” Louis decided to take that in while he finished eating. Zayn didn’t pressure him to speak anymore, so when they parted ways for the night with the promises of a more structured night after they slept, he fell asleep hoping every day would be as good as this one had.

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Louis dreamt.

It was a terrible dream – he found himself lost in a crowd of so many people he didn’t know and didn’t recognize and couldn’t tell if they were human or not. He felt himself drowning in a sea of people and couldn’t find his way out. He pushed and pushed through the crowd, hearing someone calling his name over and over as he tried to find it. No matter which way he pushed, though, the sound never seemed to grow louder, only quieter and quieter like he was losing it.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay.” One of the strangers turned to him in his dream, but instead he opened his eyes and heard Zayn’s voice saying the same words and found himself holding on to the vampire tightly. He’d never had a nightmare like that before, and it left him uneasy. “It’ll be okay.”

“I know.” He knew it would be. Having Zayn there to fight away the doubts he’d always had about vampires and the outside world made that much obvious. He would be fine.


	2. II

 

_Who knows the secret tomorrow will hold?_   
_We don't really need to know_   
_Cause you're here with me now, I don't want you to go_

_-_ Jonas Blue, Perfect Strangers. 

 

Louis had found that Zayn had not been lying about what his purpose was. As the days passed, the vampire didn’t feed from him. He provided everything for him, new clothing and books and free use of the drawing materials Zayn owned. It was completely different from what he’d thought he was supposed to exist for.

It was six weeks later when he and Zayn sat at the table, Louis clad in sweats (something he’d taken advantage of greatly since he’d discovered what they were) and a jumper, when Zayn said something that made him nervous.

“I have a bit of a surprise for you, later on.”

“A… surprise? What is it?” Zayn nodded, taking a drink of his tea. There was a little smirk playing at the corners of his lips that made Louis’ heart flutter. Zayn made Louis so happy – made his life seem like everything had been worth it. Even if it had only been six weeks, he just hoped that things would stay this way for a long time.

“I was told to keep it a surprise.” Louis pouted and Zayn laughed, not giving in to what he’d hoped would convince him to tell him.

“Can I have a hint?”

“Hm, I don’t think so. You’ll get it if I give you hints.”

“That’s the point.” Zayn rolled his eyes and Louis laughed and let the subject drop. It was a pleasant feeling, to know that there was going to be something pleasant happening later. Louis had opened up to Zayn more than he had to anyone except Liam – they were the only two vampires he could really talk openly with, without that shame or worry that he would say something wrong and get himself into trouble. (Liam had only ever spanked him a few times in his much younger years when he’d been a proper brat).

He finished eating in the silence. It was another thing he enjoyed about being Zayn’s keep – Zayn didn’t like conversation any more than he did, but when they _did_ get talking, the two of them could talk for a long time. But when he washed off their plates, the vampire was pulling a jacket on. “I’m headed out. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“’Kay. See you then.” Louis said with a soft smile and watched him leave. These were the moments that Louis dreaded. The times when he felt like there was no purpose for him there. Zayn didn’t force him to clean, he just did it because he wanted to, and he wasn’t used to be fed from or fucked. He knew Zayn had told him from the beginning that he was just there for company – but it didn’t feel right.

He added it to the list of things he wouldn’t let himself think about.

 

He'd thought about it, of course. He always did. Especially when he told himself _not_ to think about it. Sometimes he’d wonder if he could show up to his family’s home one day and claim he was their son, just to see how they’d respond. Would his mother reclaim him with open arms? Would her husband shove him away with a disgraceful sneer? He would never try these things – would never even attempt to shove his way back into his blood family’s life, but it was a thought.

Then he would remember where he was. Under the ownership of a vampire because of _them_ and he’d change his mind. They gave him up like he meant nothing, without caring if he’d end up in a good home or not. He had no reason to care about them.

Right?

 

Zayn returned within three hours and Louis had cleaned up their mess from breakfast as well as cleaned the rest of the kitchen, too. Cleaning wasn’t something he’d ever really _enjoyed_ especially when he was back at the facilities, but it was a mind numbing task that helped the time pass by quickly. He’d always found scrubbing tables and floors a good pastime that would keep his thoughts from wondering too deeply into the things he’d ruled against thinking about.

He was on the floor, wiping up the last of the moisture from the tiles with a towel. When Louis looked up to greet Zayn, he stood too quickly and almost tripped over his own feet from a wet spot he’d missed. “Liam!” He shouted and ran over to the larger vampire, jumping on him and smiling when he put his arms around his frame and kept him up.

“Surprise.” He said with a smile, his eyes crinkling up at the corners like they always did when he was happy. Liam was here! He’d worried for weeks that he’d never see him again, the reality had finally settled in until he showed up. It was really brilliant, better than anything he could have asked for.

“How are you here?”

“You know I’d never let you go off with someone who I didn’t trust, babe. Zayn’s a good friend of mine.” Louis was sure his eyes were filling with tears that threatened to spill over, and Zayn ran his fingers through his hair to comfort him.

“Thank you. Thank you both.” Liam didn’t put him down for a long while, and Louis gladly stayed like that. He’d worried more often than he’d like to admit that he would have never seen Liam again, which likely would have just become another vice that came with growing up around people who aren’t really his family, but this was perfect. He was so, so happy.

Maybe family doesn’t have to be blood.

 

He woke later that day to a creaking in a room he’d never been inside of. It was one of the rooms he’d thought was empty, but when he opened the door and found a naked Zayn underneath an _equally_ naked Liam – he squeaked and closed the door before scampering back off to his room.

_Good friend, right._

 

**{ FOUR YEARS LATER }**

 

_Hey, I work hard, pray hard, pay dues, hey_   
_I transform with pressure - I'm hands-on with effort_   
_I fell twice before my bounce back was special_   
_Letdowns will get you, and the critics will test you_   
_But the strong will survive, another scar may bless you, ah_

\- Sia, The Greatest.

 

Zayn’s only piece of technology he kept in the house was a radio and a CD player with an entire shelf full of the discs. Louis had grown attached to the player, picking out CDs with pretty cover art and sticking them into the slot. Every day he’d try out a new disc and write down in his journal which ones he liked and didn’t like, copying the letters and trying to sound them out the best he could. Zayn helped whenever he could, but when Louis pulled out a new one _,_ he had no idea how to pronounce it, but he just stuck it in the player anyway.

Over the years he’d been with Zayn, it became his favorite toy. Every once and a while, when the vampire went out, he’d return with a bag of new discs to add to the collection and they’d listen to one of them together. It became both Louis’ way of learning to read better over the years and a way of entertaining himself, too.

He ended up falling asleep on the couch with the music playing around him.

 

When he woke up later, it was the sound of a door clicking open. The music had stopped, so he assumed it had been long enough for it to play all of the songs and shut off. He’d gotten used to Zayn leaving for a few hours a day, just enough time for him to be able to have enough alone time to be able to be comfortable, and it was a mutually beneficial thing that the vampire did. Even if he got somewhat lonely sometimes.

But when the footsteps came in the house, Louis suddenly felt _afraid._ He wasn’t even sure why – the footsteps just sounded like Zayn when he was wearing his heavy boots. But there was an intense fear settling deep into his muscles and when he sat up to turn around, his eyes widened.

It wasn’t Zayn.

It was another vampire – he could tell just because every step he took practically _seethed_ the power he had. Louis could feel it so strongly that it made him scared. The vampire hadn’t looked at him yet, and Louis wasn’t entirely sure if he knew he was there.

“Zayn didn’t tell me he had a pet.” The man said without even looking at him. Rather, he was looking around the house, picking up random picture frames that rested on tables and examining them before placing them back in their original place.

The man was attractive – even Louis could admit that. He had brown, shoulder length hair that curled and looked like it was styled to seem messy. His eyes were a vivid, bright green - bright eyes being a characteristic of powerful vampires - that Louis thought were stunning. He was _tall_ too. “Are you mute, _pet?_ Do you not know how to greet me?” He was still in the awkward position he’d set himself in, twisted around on the couch with his knees under his ass. His breath caught in his throat and he didn’t have any clue what to say to this new vampire.

He didn’t even know who he _was._

The vampire picked up another photo and Louis took his opportunity to run up the stairs and go into his room. Of course he knew the vampire could have stopped him, Zayn’s done it a few times in the midst of a little dispute, but he didn’t. It put him on edge.

Zayn wasn’t supposed to be back for _hours._ He’d said he was going to be out a while longer today, since he and Liam had things they needed to attend to. He was going to be stuck in this house with a strong vampire who he knew nothing, _alone,_ about until Zayn got back.

Maybe he could just stay holed up in his room and nothing bad would come of it.

 

It seemed to be working for a while. An hour passed, and then two. He couldn’t really feel the fear that he’d felt from before, so he just hoped that maybe the man had left. Perhaps he’d needed something from Zayn and finding that he wasn’t here made him just leave.

Until he heard the same sound of heavy boots and slow footsteps going down the hall. His heart rate picked up all over again – a terrible, terrible reaction to being afraid of a fucking _vampire –_ but he couldn’t stop it. His eyes were glued on his own door as the sounds got closer. _Step, step, step –_ quiet. Then the doorknob turned. The first thought that came to Louis’ head was that he was going to die, this was the end, death by an unknown vampire.

“I’m not going to kill you.” Was the only thing he said, standing in Louis’ doorway and just _staring._ He had this strong, icy stare that made Louis feel small beneath it. “I’ve been listening to you think yourself wild for the last two hours. It’s amusing, pet. But I would like to know where Zayn is, if you know. You _can_ speak can’t you?”

“He’s um – With Liam.”

“Liam.” The vampire repeated, quirking an eyebrow. Louis knew it meant he didn’t know who Liam was, but he didn’t want to elaborate. He’d answered his question. “Did he give you a time he’d return?”

“By five.” Both of their eyes went to the clock. It was only twenty minutes until five. The vampire left without a word and it left Louis with an even worse feeling of unease.

The sun would be rising soon, and he knew that meant the two vampires he _was_ comfortable with would be returning soon. Liam wasn’t old enough to be out in the sun yet – quite a long ways away, actually – which he thought was an interesting thing to learn. Around five hundred years into their lifetimes, a vampire could go out into the sun with only mild discomfort. The discomfort eventually faded, too.

He wondered how old this mystery vampire was. He’d never heard of vampires that could _read thoughts._ But he’d also never been around one that felt as powerful as this one had – even Zayn’s power felt small compared to this one’s. His breath caught in his throat again, but when he heard the familiar sound of gravel shifting in the drive, he ran to the window and saw Zayn’s car, right beside an unfamiliar one that he assumed belonged to _him._

He couldn’t hear any voices from upstairs, and for once he was grateful for that. He didn’t want to eavesdrop on anything that the strange vampire and Zayn were speaking about. He really just wanted to go to bed. He was normally asleep by five.

There was more silence until he heard softer footsteps and his door opened. Zayn.

“Did he touch you?” Zayn sounded more angry than he’d ever heard him. He’d heard Zayn angry a handful of times over the years, but this really took the win.

“No.” His face softened. “He didn’t touch me at all, Zed.” Zayn nodded and came to sit on the foot of his bed. Louis went to sit in his lap, something he’d been doing for about two years. Zayn was quiet, but he could feel the anger still pulsing from him. “Who is he?”

“My maker.” Oh – _oh._ That made sense. That made a lot of sense, actually. He and Zayn had celebrated his 900th birthday just a few months prior, so his _maker_ could be over a thousand. It made Louis’ head spin. “He won’t be here long, though. I don’t know why he decided to show up at all. I’m sorry I wasn’t here when he got here.”

“It’s alright. You didn’t know he was going to show up.”

“You can sleep if you’d like, babe. I’m going to get rid of him, but you look tired.”

“’M alright. I’m not too tired.” Zayn smiled and ran his fingers through Louis’ hair.

“So he _can_ speak.” Came Harry’s remark from the doorway. “Where are his marks, _Zed?_ What is he, a fuckfeeder?” Louis’ heart dropped into his chest. He’d never once been called something so awful.

“Don’t you _dare_ call him that!” Zayn called out, standing immediately.

“So he is, then? You fuck _humans_ Zayn?”

“You’ve never had a problem with humans before right now. I don’t understand where this is coming from.”

“I don’t have a problem with humans. I have a problem with my make keeping a disrespectful human around with no _purpose!”_ Louis felt sick. That nagging thought that he had no purpose here had been almost entirely suppressed in the progress he’d made over the last year or so, but now all of those insecurities were flooding back to the front of his mind.

“Of course you wouldn’t understand, Harry. You’ve never been one to feel compassion. All you know are facts and truths. You don’t know emotions or feelings.” Zayn’s anger was making Louis’ muscles twist in knots. He hated how strong vampire emotions always had some kind of physical effect on his body.

“Mhm. Alright, Zayn.” Harry glanced over to Louis, their eyes locking for a moment. “I thought you would be excited that I decided to come home.” Zayn’s mouth opened in what he assumed was shock before a flash of sadness.

“You haven’t been home in over a century, Harry.” That’s why this vampire – Harry – didn’t know who Liam was, then.

“I know, babe. But we can work it out, yeah?” Zayn was silent.

“I’m going to bed. Leave Louis alone and just – you know where your room is.” Zayn stormed out and Harry looked over to him one last time before he was gone.

Louis was still scared.

 

The house was entirely silent, and even as the tiredness tugged at Louis’ eyelids, he didn’t sleep. Instead, he went to the window and watched the way the wind swayed the trees. It wasn’t often he did this anymore, stayed awake to appreciate the daylight, but it was still occasional. A kind of stress relief he’d found himself turning to more often than not.

He fell asleep at his chair by the window that night, knees tucked up to his chest as the brilliant colors of the daylight surrounded him. He dreamt that night of _green_ and all of the things that were beautiful in the color.

 

Breakfast was awkward. Harry stared at him almost the entire time as an eerie silence fell over the room. Zayn shifted uncomfortably a few times, but Harry seemed unfased. He didn’t seem bothered one bit by the discomfort he was causing.

“What on _earth_ could you be thinking of that’s causing so much – anger in that head of yours?!” Zayn finally asked, pointed towards Harry with a glare.

“You let him eat at the table.” Louis almost choked.

“Yes, I also let him sleep in a bed and nap on the couch and make his own tea. I understand you disapprove of how I treat my human – but he’s _mine!”_ Louis looked down to the table, stomach in knots. It had been a long while since Zayn had referred to him as a possession instead of a friend.

He missed Liam, too. Wanted him to come and listen to music so they could talk out their problems. Liam had said something about their mortal ages coming to a crossover fairly soon – Louis being eighteen in only three days - and had something planned for it, so he understood why the other vampire hadn’t been around. But he wanted him then more than he ever had.

But that wasn’t his decision. Even if it didn’t always feel like it, he _did_ belong to Zayn. It wasn’t Louis’ decision if Liam came over or if they could see each other. So he stood and went to wash his plate. “I’ll clean the rest later I’m just – tired.”

“Stupid twat kept me up all night with his loud thinking.” Was what he heard from Harry as he made his way up the stairs. Blinking back tears, he just kept going. Harry wouldn’t be here forever.

 

He holed up in his room for the next few days. Zayn came in with a worried expression a few times, to check on him and bring him his meals, but Louis wasn’t hungry. Honestly, he just wanted to wallow for a while. It had been so long before this – _creep_ showed up here since he’d thought about his place in the world and what he really had.

He had nothing.

Liam was his only friend – and even then, it was only by Zayn allowing it. Zayn was his _master._ He was his property. It was what he’d been destined to be since he was a child, since he’d been abandoned in that facility that he’d eventually considered home, but he hated it. He hated everything about this entire situation.

But he knew Zayn was desperate when Liam came into his bedroom without being announced. “Lou.” Was all he said and Louis was scooting over in his bed, giving space for the other. “What’s going on?”

“Nothin’.”

“Don’t ‘nothin’’ me, Louis. I know when you’re lying, and holing yourself in your room and not eating is clearly not nothing. Talk to me.”

“I’m tired.”

“You can sleep after you talk to me, babe.”

“No – I mean. I’m tired of – this. Of life. Of being someone’s property.” Liam blinked.

“You’ve never seemed to have a problem with it before.”

“I’ve _always_ had a problem with this Liam. I just kind of always sucked it up. But this is just – it’s _insane_ Liam. No one purchases a human for company. I’m wasting away in this house for what? Zayn’s entertainment? He doesn’t _use me!_ He’s not done anything I was raised expecting and I don’t – I don’t have a purpose! I don’t mean anything here – I’m just wasting his money and his things and probably annoying him when I have no reason at all to even be here.” There were tears streaming down his face, then, and Liam ran his fingers through his hair.

“You have plenty of a purpose, Lou.”

“What is it, then?”

“You know Zayn’s never been this happy, right? Before you came along I was certain he was just going to find a way to off himself. I worried so, so much. That’s how bad it was. He was the same way as you are now, I suppose. But that’s not my story to tell, but I want you to know you’ve made him so much happier in the last four years than I’ve seen him in a hundred and forty.”

“A hundred and forty?” Liam quirked an eyebrow at Louis’ sudden smile. “You never told me how old you are before.” Liam gave a gentle sigh.

“One hundred and forty nine.”

“Old man.”

“If I didn’t have as many years under my belt as I did I don’t think I could handle you, Lou. You’re quite the handful.”

“I know.”

“Are you feeling better?”

“No. But I will, I guess. Maybe when that Harry guy leaves. He’s the one that put this idea back in my head. I haven’t thought about it since that first year and now – it’s all I can think about.” Liam chewed on his lip. “What? What’s that look for?”

“Harry… Isn’t leaving.” Louis glanced over to the doorframe, Liam usually left it open so he thought nothing of it, but the vampire was standing there with a blank expression, eyes fixed on Louis’ all over again. Louis decided to challenge him and he kept his gaze, held it in a blank stare until the curly haired vampire walked away.

Louis took it as a win.

 

“Liam?” They were at supper, the first one Louis had come down for since the beginning of his little slump. Zayn and Harry were both missing, which Louis decided not to take personally. They probably didn’t expect him to come down, anyway.

“Hm?”

“Why did my parents leave me?” Liam’s eyebrows furrowed.

“You told me to never answer you that. No matter how much you asked.”

“I want to know, Li. I think it will help.” Liam was quiet for a long while. Louis really did want to know. It was one of the things he knew he shouldn’t have asked for, one of the things he knew he probably wouldn’t recover from, but he needed to know.

“You were three when they brought you in. Your mum and someone who wasn’t your father – because she’d left the _father_ section of your papers blank – marked him as deceased, actually.” Louis’ heart felt heavy. “So they brought you in with one of your hands in each of theirs and I was the desk worker when they brought you in. I remember thinking, ‘why would these people be bringing _him_ in?’ you all looked so happy. There were a few other kids with them, too. I can’t even – I can’t remember their genders. But they said they were going to leave _you_. Of course when the ‘why’ section of the paperwork came along, I was curious. So I read it. They left you behind because your mum remarried to a vampire – and when they had kids themselves, he didn’t want a full human blood child.”

Louis didn’t really feel anything. He’d always thought there would be some kind of – _despair_ or some kind of strong emotion that would make him break down. But it didn’t come. Instead, there was nothing.

He realized, then, that Liam and the rest of the staff at that facility and Zayn were his family. Blood be damned.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Are you alright?”

“It doesn’t really hurt.” Liam nodded in understanding. The table fell into a silence after that, neither of them willing to break it first, but Louis was fine with that. He liked the silence, liked the comfort that easily fell between them when they weren’t speaking.

  
The house was still silent long after Liam and Louis had gone back to his room and laid down together, Louis’ head on Liam’s chest. He’d done this a few times with the older kids when he was younger – the human ones – and he’d never really gotten used to hearing a heartbeat in a chest. Liam was one of the few vampires who had ever really laid with him when he was upset or didn’t feel well, but he did it often enough that the lack of the heart beat became normal. It was a comfort.

“You still have that bear.” Liam said after a moment, a smile on his lips as he looked to the floor.

“Oh – yeah. I do.” Louis said with an embarrassed laugh as his face turned a little shade of pink.

“You remember when we got that for you, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t remember not having him.”

“I think it was a week or two after you first arrived, and you just refused to ever sleep alone. Like, one of the staff or another one of the humans had to be with you or you would _not_ sleep. So I found that little bear one day when I was out shopping and grabbed it and you never let it go. Even now, I guess.” Louis smiled.

“He was in the closet for a long time. I just – Harry scares me, a lot. I really don’t know why, so I pulled him out. Safety net, I guess.” Liam sighed happily and ran his fingers through Louis’ hair until the human’s breathing evened out once again.

 

When Louis’ eyes opened, it was to an obnoxious noise. Banging and crashing and -   _yelling._ So much yelling. Liam was gone, but Louis expected that. He had to work. The yelling was getting louder and there were footsteps and another crash before a door slam. Then there was silence.

Harry and Zayn.

He was really getting tired of them being angry with each other one moment and closer than ever the next. He really just wanted the older vampire gone, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.

He laid back down and pulled the little dog close to his chest as he went back to sleep. Liam’s side of the bed was still warm.

 

The next night – he couldn’t feel the odd tinge of energy in the air that he could usually feel around Harry. The odd feeling of his obvious power was missing, and it was almost comforting. He felt like he could _breathe._

Getting in the shower made him feel even better. He stayed in for far too long, just letting the water run over his body long after he’d washed up, but it was a comfort. His only true alone time.

He dressed again in jeans and a jumper, heading downstairs to grab some tea.

Harry.

Harry was just sitting at the table, eyes focused on a book. Louis turned around, getting up two stairs before Harry’s voice broke the silence. “Zayn left.”

“What? What do you mean he – _left?”_

“He left. Said he’d be back when he calmed down.” Louis’ eyebrows furrowed as he took a real look at Harry. He had a decent bruise covering the better half of the left side of his face, and his nose seemed like it had been twisted to the side just slightly. Zayn had really done some damage. “So, looks like you’re stuck with me.” Harry didn’t say it in a way that Louis took as malicious or evil, so he just sighed. Maybe he didn’t have to run away from him.

“What happened?” Harry tensed, he could feel the change in the air and almost coughed. A glance at the vampires face said he didn’t want to tell, so Louis wasn’t going to push. He’d just ask Zayn when he came back.

The vampire took a breath. “It’s about you, of course. All of our fights are.” It was another statement, but Louis didn’t take it to heart. It didn’t seem like he was saying it to make him feel bad.

“Right. Um. Okay.”

“He cares a lot for you and – I’m just. I’m _trying_ to change my outlook on humans, for his sake I guess. But. It’s hard for me.”

“Do you see all humans badly, or just the ones who were given into the keep trade?” Harry was quiet for a minute, like he actually had to consider it. After a moment, he just stopped expecting an answer. He climbed onto the counter, pulling the tea kettle from the top shelf and filled it with water. “Do you want a cuppa?” The vampire looked to him, eyebrows furrowed, but he nodded. Louis waited, leaned against the counter and waited until the kettle started to screech. Taking two bags, he poured the water over them and set the tops on to let them rest a moment. “How do you take it?”

“Just milk.” Louis couldn’t help the little smile, but it was gone as soon as it was there as he poured milk into both of the cups and went to sit at the table. “It’s not all humans.” Harry finally said. “I don’t really know. I guess… it might just be the keeps. They’re – I’ve always been around keeps with a purpose. Bed keeps or blood keeps or house keeps. But you – you’re different.”

“I don’t have a purpose.” Louis said, miming what the vampire had said before and the man winced at the realization that he had said that.

“I wish there was a way to say that that wasn’t so harsh.”

“I – know what you mean. I guess.” Louis shook his head softly. “I was raised my entire life thinking all vampires would be…”

“Like me.”

“Yeah. They’d expect me to have a job and fulfill it every single day. But then Zayn took me and … I don’t have that.”

“Zayn’s always had a soft spot for humans. He fell in love with one about two hundred years ago and she refused him when he offered to change her.”

“Really? I thought he liked Liam. A … guy.”

“He does. He changed him.” Louis’ eyebrows shot up. He hadn’t expected that. There was more silence, but this time it had an uncomfortable twinge to it. “Have you always been a keep, then?”

“Yeah. I mean, I wasn’t born into it. But my birth mum – married a vampire. Who… didn’t like full blooded human children. I just found this out, though. So. I don’t really know how to feel about it?” Louis shrugged. Harry’s eyebrows furrowed.

“How old are you, Louis?”

“I’ll be eighteen in three days.”

“Christ, you’re only a child.” Louis chewed on his lip. “How old were you when they…”

“Three.” Harry was silent again. This time it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was like he was contemplating something to say.

“I’m sorry. I misjudged you. I just – every other human I’ve come across like this … sold themselves into the trade. They were all consenting adults either… looking to pay off a debt or they were um, _aroused_ by the feeding part and sold themselves for that aspect. I didn’t know –“

“It’s alright, Harry. I didn’t give you much a chance to explain.” The vampire’s lips turned up into a small smile.

“What do you do all day, then?”

“Oh, um. Nothing, honestly. I clean a lot, mostly out of boredom. Zayn’s tried to get me to stop so many times but – yeah. I draw a lot and listen to music often.”

“Do you not go outside?”

“No, not really. Zayn doesn’t like the day time.”

“Would you … like to?”

“With you?” Louis didn’t mean for it to come out as harshly as he felt once it had passed his lips. Harry winced slightly. “I… Yes. I would love to go outside with you.”

“Okay.” Harry’s smile was back. This vampire sent him mixed messages that he couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around, no matter how hard he tried. Eventually, Louis retreated back to his room with a second cup of tea and a promise of finding Harry when the sun started to rise.

 

Louis hadn’t worn shoes in almost two years. He hadn’t had the need to wear any, really, since he hadn’t gone outside in nearly three – so when he went to try and shove his feet into his old pair of shoes, he was disappointed. They were so small that his toes had to curl up to be able to fit, and he just sighed.

“You can borrow some of mine, if you’d like.” Harry’s voice broke through the silence of his room, startling the human. “Shit, sorry, sorry. I keep forgetting you’re not used to the fact I can hear your thoughts.”

“It’s kind of weird. Will they fit me?”

“I’ve some adjustable sandals, come on.” Harry took him to his room and – _wow._ He’d never been in this room, not a single time in years because it had always been locked. It had a balcony with a set of sliding glass doors that had a view of the same side of the house Louis’ room did and art hung across the off-white colored walls, and three guitars shoved in the corner. His four-poster bed took up a good part of the area that seemed to be dedicated to sleeping, but the other parts of the room with the couch and the book shelves told their own story. The vampire took out what Louis assumed to be the shoes and handed them to the boy, who played with the straps until he figured out how to get them on in the most comfortable way they’d go.

“Your room is beautiful.” He found himself saying after a moment.

“Thank you.” Many of the items seemed modern… so Louis assumed most of it had been brought back with him from wherever he’d been for so long. “Let’s go, then?”

“Yes, please.” Really, Louis was beyond excited to be outside, it had been _so_ long. Since that first time he’d ever stepped outside, he’d known it would never be enough. He would always want more.

 

So they went, the both of them stopping a moment as Louis blinked away the tears and discomfort that came from being in direct light for the first time in so long, but once he had they were off. No words were shared for a long while, until they were more than half way down the path that led to the wooded area that Louis’ mind had always dreamt of. He’d wanted to come out here since he’d first seen it.

“When I built this house in the 1800s,” Harry started, and Louis looked to him with a smile. He loved when vampires told stories. “This stretch of wood went out for two hundred miles. Only the first twenty were mine, but I spent years exploring and walking and adventuring out here. Now all that’s left is my ten miles I own, but it’s still one of my favorite places in the world.”

“I like to watch it from my window. I’ve always wanted to um, come out here. It’s beautiful.”

“It is.” Harry was smiling again, and Louis was too.

“Oh my God! It’s a bunny! Look at it, Harry! Look, it’s so cute and – “ His face felt warm. “I’m sorry. I’ve never – “

“Don’t apologize. It is cute.” Louis wasn’t sure if he was talking about the bunny anymore, but for the sake of his dignity he was going to pretend that he was.

 

“Zayn must have really hit you hard.” Louis commented when they were both sitting on a bench in a clearing a mile or so down the path.

“What makes you say that?”

“Because um – I’ve never seen a bruise on a vampire last this long?”

“You’ve seen bruises on vampires before?” Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow with a curious smirk.

“Well – yes.” He laughed softly. “I was a … snotty kid. I didn’t like to do as I was told and Liam often got the end of it. And uh, the first time Zayn told me I couldn’t go outside I threw a rather heavy book right at his head.” Harry’s smirk didn’t falter, but he didn’t seem any less… fond, either.

“Feisty human.” Louis smiled.

“That I am.”

“I think I’m going to take you back inside, now, though. I’m getting a bit tired and I think you are, too.”

“I am not!” Louis yawned and Harry laughed.

 

Half way back, Louis was exhausted. This was more physical exertion than he’d had in his entire life, and it was making his feet ache and his back hurt and – Harry picked him up. Swept him right up off his feet and ignored the undignified squack Louis let out in response.

“I don’t need to be carried!” He said once Harry had settled him bridal style in his arms.

“You’ve been complaining in your head for the last twenty minutes.”

“Oi – I’m a – _man!_ I can handle a walk!” He said and crossed his arms, but he was long asleep by the time Harry got him back to the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry is... trying. Comments and kudos are very much appreciated, friends.


	3. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is kind of a jerk. Louis gets into some trouble. Harry is a little less of a jerk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated! Without an obnoxious wait! Wow!

_I figured it out_  
_I figured it out from black and white_  
_Seconds and hours_  
_Maybe they had to take some time_

\- You and I, One Direction

 

Louis dreamed that night of falling asleep with Harry’s arms wrapped around him.

The stupid dream had left him feeling empty and annoyed when he woke up alone in his own bed. Harry had _not_ been with him and he was only so warm because the vampire had left his clothes on when he set him to sleep – so waking up alone had been almost… Hard. He’d never once in his life wished anyone would come and sleep with him. The only time he’d wanted to share a bed with someone was Liam when he was much younger and had had a bad dream.

So he decided to not get out of bed. Even when he heard some rusting downstairs, he just wanted to sleep and mope over nothing. Especially if Zayn still wasn’t home.

It took him about twenty minutes to get up and pull his journal from the drawer, taking his pen and sitting back down. He drew the trees from the night before at the top of the page, ink scribbled in shaded splotches, and broke the page in half with a line. In a second picture, he drew his dream, Harry’s arms around his waist and the two of them cuddled close together. He wasn’t sure if he wished it could be real or not, but he was lonely.

A visit from Liam would be nice, but he knew that wasn’t going to be anything common, so he grabbed his stuffed dog from the shelf and got back into bed, cuddling around the stuffed animal and going back to sleep.

 

Harry was downstairs reading again when he finally did emerge from his room. Neither of them said anything, instead Louis just got his tea and made himself a sandwich and sat at the table to eat it. It felt awkward. If Harry could read his mind did that mean he could see his dreams, too? Oh, God. Of course. He probably could. But thinking about it would only make it worse, so he decided to ignore his thoughts and feelings as best as he could.

Harry didn’t say _anything._ Not a single word until Louis was about to go back up the stairs to mope some more.

“Louis.” Was all he said, and he froze, turning to look at him. “Don’t go. Come sit with me.”

“I – Alright.” He walked back down the two stairs he had managed to climb and went to the couch, sitting on the opposite side the vampire. “What are you reading?”

“Of Mice and Men. I’ve read it at least a hundred times but. It doesn’t really get old.”

“What’s it about?”

“You can read it if you’d like, I don’t much like to spoil books.” Louis’ face fell, but he caught it before it did any lasting damage.

“No… that’s – that’s really nice but.. No thank you.”

“Why not?”

“Um.” He was interrupted by a loud ringing and Harry pulled his phone out.

 _“Zayn.”_ The vampire said, the relief obvious in his voice. But then the vampire stood and went to the kitchen. Louis couldn’t hear anything of the conversation, other than a few words that Harry would say louder than the rest. “What?!” Was the loudest, about ten minutes into the conversation and Louis trying to read the back of the book. “What am I supposed to do with your human then?! I don’t want to take care of him!” Oh. He put the book back down. Harry was only being nice because Zayn was making him be nice. Right. He had to remember that. “You have two months, Zayn. If you’re not back then I’ll leave him to starve.” Was the last thing Louis heard, but by the time Harry was done with his sentence, Louis was already running up the stairs and locking his bedroom door.

Of course Harry didn’t care.

Of _course._

 

The vampire didn’t even come to ask him why he’d ran off. It really just proved his point further, but it didn’t hurt any less. He hadn’t felt happy around anyone like he had with Harry the night before in… since he was a kid. A really young and stupid kid who’d managed to fall in love with another human at the facility. The boy he’d come to love was taken away from him only a year after he’d met him, but it was the only real experience he’d had of… love. He didn’t love Harry, but it scared him – because he knew he _could._ It was so stupid! So _stupid_ to have those feelings about a vampire who would outlive him until the earth died out and humanity was long past extinct, it was stupid have those feelings about a stupid vampire who would never even feel a shred of respect for him just because he was a human.

That was the first time he’d ever thought about wanting to meet his father. Or, whoever it was that made his mother give him away. He wanted to know _why._ He wanted to know _why_ they saw him as such a worthless little creature who wasn’t good for anything. Just because he was human.

He cried for a few hours until the sting in his eyes put him to sleep.

 

When he opened his eyes, there was light streaming in through the curtains that he thought he’d closed. But glancing over, Harry was sitting there, looking out the window as he sat in _his_ chair.

“Zayn isn’t coming back for a while.”

“I know.” Louis felt the tears pricking at his eyes again, but he swallowed them down. “Hopefully in under two months, right? I mean, I’ve thought about dying before but I don’t think starving to death is at the top of the list of ways I’d like to.” Harry turned to him, taking a deep breath.

“I wouldn’t – actually do that to you.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. Why should I believe you?”

“I said that to get Zayn back. He cares about you – a lot. But even he said it was bullshit that I would do that. I don’t. I don’t _enjoy_ harming humans, Louis.”

“So you won’t hurt us, just make us think you will. Right.” Harry’s eyes turned darker as they narrowed, and Louis felt like the energy in the room would suffocate him. Powerful vampires could easily kill a human if they got angry enough. He’d heard stories of it happening without them ever having to even lay a hand on them. It hadn’t seemed real until right then, until he suddenly couldn’t catch his breath and there was _wetness_ running down his nose and over his lips.

He was going to die. He’d pissed Harry off and now he was going to die. He closed his eyes, trying to think of something happy to take his mind off of the fear – but then he didn’t feel anything.

Nothing other than the thud of his head smaking against a pillow.

“Fuck.” Harry’s voice sounded soft, almost sad. “I didn’t mean to – shit.” Louis’ eyes were closed. He wasn’t sure he could open them if he wanted to. “That was – an accident. I’m so sorry, Louis. I’d never hurt you on purpose.” That was all it took before he let the darkness take him once again.

 

He woke with a startled gasp. It was dark again and he clicked the lamp on. The room illuminated and Harry wasn’t there. He could breathe again, and when he went to touch his nose, there was no trace that it had ever been bleeding besides the small stain on the collar of his shirt. “ _I’d never hurt you on purpose.”_ Rang through his head, over and over. Harry gave him a headache, made him think about things too much, and it hurt.

 

He didn't let himself think about that for the rest of the night. Instead, he kept himself holed up in his room and stared out the window. These were the times when he wished he could just be a kid again and have Liam read him bedtime stories until he fell asleep. He missed the times when he could hear about anchient kingdoms and strong rulers that always had a happy ending and strong heros to take the glory. Instead, he had to look out the window and make up his own stories. 

When he finally left his room, the last thing he expected to see was Harry in  _his_ bathroom doing his hair. Louis knew it was irrational to not want the vampire in a space that didn't even belong to him, but it still made the anger build up in his chest. He huffed and walked away, going down the stairs and starting a pot for his tea. It was rather unfortunate how easy it was to really make Louis mad. But it wouldn't go away - the feeling that he could just explode at any moment. 

So the second the vampire went down the stairs, he blew up. 

“Why do you refuse to give me basic rights because I’m _human?!”_ Louis screamed at the curly haired vampire, tears running down his face. “I don’t want to live forever so you decide I just – don’t deserve to enjoy the fifty years I will get?” Harry seemed unfazed by his shouting, staring at him with no emotion in his face. 

“I resent humans because you die so quickly. I resent humanity because you _get_ to die. You get your life and then that’s it – heaven, hell, reincarnation, whatever. You _get_ that. I never will. I will live and survive until… there is no until. When I fell in love for the first time, it was with a human. He refused to let me change him and said that if God wanted us to be together, he would have birthed him a vampire or left me a human. I will never get to experience growing old with someone. I’ll never have a future with any human I meet unless I want to give them this curse I’ve been given. That’s why.” He’d never heard a vampire speak so truthfully about their existence. No one had ever taken the time to help him understand. Louis kept his mouth shut for a few moments, but there was still anger bubling in his chest.

“You know just because you have maybe a few rights to resent humanity doesn’t mean you should take it out on _me._ I’m not your maker! _I’m_ not the boy you fell in love with. _I’m_ not anyone who’s ever done anything to harm you! Maybe I will die quickly, I will be dead long before you and you’ll live on long past I will, but I’ll never get to experience growing old with soeone, either, Harry. If you’ve forgotten I’m Zayn’s _property._ I’ll never leave this house to be able to make my own life. That wasn’t my choice, either, Harry. You’re not the only one with a sob story.” Louis spun around on his heel, wiping away the stray tears that were falling down his face.

But Harry had him against the wall, his hands on either side of his head as Louis looked up, wide eyed. He hadn’t even felt the movement because the vampire was so fast. He wasn’t scared. That was what felt… _wrong._ He should be scared. But instead, he looked up at the vampire’s eyes, blue meeting green as they just stared at each other. “You’re not afraid of me anymore.” Harry said as more of a fact than a question. The topic before was abandoned.

“You don’t scare me.” Louis said in the same, emotionless tone Harry had.

“Why not?” The vampire almost sounded amused. “You said it yourself, you’ll die long before I will and you _are_ Zayn’s property. There’s nothing stopping me from doing what I want with you, considering Zayn’s not here.”

“I know you won’t hurt me.” Harry had a little smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

“And what makes you so sure of that?”

“I heard you say it.” Harry’s eyes darkened, the green growing impossibly thin around the edges of his pupils. It was the same look the vampire had gotten that night he’d almost accidentally killed him. But the pain wasn’t there.

“Smart boy, you are.” Harry didn’t say anything, instead just held him up against the wall like that. There was no conversation between them for what felt like hours, but it was really only a few moments before Harry let his arms down. “I resent you, Louis, because you amaze me. You’re terribly defiant and sassy and you stand up to me in a way I’ve never once seen another human – or even vampire do. You’re probably one of the very, very few people in the world who really don’t know who I am and – it’s so strange to me. So that’s why.”

“So, you’re like a child, picking on me because you’ve a _crush?”_ Harry laughed again.

“I suppose so, yes.”

“I’m not the type to be wooed by that, Styles. I’m afraid you’ll have to try much harder.”

“What makes you think I want to woo you?”

“You’re still here.” Harry just smirked again and ran the back of his hand down his cheek like he was going to kiss him. But then he was gone and Louis wasn’t sure what there was to feel. He didn’t feel anything.

 

“You said your birthday was today, didn’t you?” Harry said the next day at breakfast.

“When morning hits, yeah.”

“What would you like to do to celebrate?”

“Uh, Zayn usually just gets me a cake.” He shrugged.

“Well, Zayn’s not here. What would you _really_ like to do? Anything.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

“I mean… I think I’d like to meet my parents. I want to ask them some questions but… I don’t know. It seems like a bad idea.”

“You really want that?”

“Yeah. Eventually.”

“Would you like me to take you?”

“Even if I did really want that, how would you even find them? Two people in a world of seven billion? I don’t even know their names.”

“I can know where they are by day break.”

“Well… Alright. If you can get me to them, I would love to meet them.” Harry nodded.

“I’ll be out for a couple of hours, then. Do you want anything while I’m gone?”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Okay. See you later.” Louis sat on the couch when the door clicked shut and pressed play on the music player. It was a classical CD this time, soft instruments mixed with louder ones that made him imagine ancient kingdoms and a different life.

Daydreaming filled most of his days when he was alone. He’d imagine himself in different lives, living different ways and having his freedom. He knew he’d been blessed when he was sold to Zayn. Zayn was so different than the horror stories he’d heard of other keepers, but it didn’t mean he was any less free. He just wanted to be able to make his own decisions and have his own life.

He turned the music off when he got too deep in his thoughts. He stopped thinking too much after that.

 

The seatbelt felt like it as choking him. He was claustrophobic in the space and he wanted to jump out of the door. He was so nervous his skin felt like it was strangling him. It was all overwhelming. Harry had his hands on the wheel and there was a song on the radio he’d never heard before. They were actually going to see his parents – his birthparents – the same birthparents who had dropped him off to the facility when he was three.

“Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you pull over for a sec?” The vampire’s eyebrows furrowed, but he listened and watched as Louis got out of the car and dry heaved a few times. He was so nervous that it was getting to his stomach and making him feel sick.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m good. I’m – I’m good, yeah. Just nervous.”

“Alright. Here, take this.” Harry took his suit jacket off and placed it over his shoulder before running a hand in circles around his back. They were both in some kind of formal wear – Harry had been more dressed up than he had, since Louis didn’t own a proper suit jacket, but it was… interesting to Louis that Harry would give up his jacket. The material nearly swallowed him up, the sleeves hanging over his hands and the back going to his mid-thigh, but it was comfortable.

“Thank you.” It was warm and he felt better – being taken care of made him feel nice. Staying outside a few moments longer, his stomach slowly stopped churning and everything was starting to feel alright again. He figured he wasn’t _actually_ going to throw up, so he stood and climbed back into Harry’s large car, putting the seatbelt back on.

“If you don’t want to go anymore, we don’t have to. It’s all right. I promise.”

“No, no. I want – closure. I want to ask them questions and just. I want to go.”

“Okay. We’ll go then.” Louis nodded with a smile, leaning his head against the window when the vampire started driving again. The feeling of the sun on his skin made him feel better when that was all he was focusing on – the warm feeling through the material of his pants. He was going to handle this. This was something he’d thought about since he was small, and if he had this chance to get something he’d wanted for so long, he wasn’t going to mess it up.

 

Harry stopped the car after a while, and Louis looked up to see the same stop that Zayn had taken the first day he’d taken him home. “Can I come in with you? I want to stand for a second.”

“Sure. Just stay next to me.” He nodded, watching as Harry came around and opened his door for him.

“Thanks.” He said and hopped out, standing right at Harry’s side. It was the first time he’d been _that_ close to him – the first time he’d realized how much taller than him Harry was. “Did you grow? Or did I shrink?” Harry laughed with a smile.

“Nope, you’ve always been that small and I’ve always been this big.” Louis huffed. “That’s why you have to stay next to me, alright? No humans allowed in here without accompaniment.” Harry said, pointing to a sign. It made Louis’ insides twist and his heart skip a beat. Did vampires really hate humans _that_ much? But he just nodded again and followed Harry about the store, taking the water bottle the vampire gave to him before following him to the counter.

“Will that be all for you?”

“That and 40 on pump three, please.” Harry said, reaching to get the wallet from Louis’ pocket and passing over a little plastic card. The other vampire swiped it into some kind of machine and handed it back to Harry, who tucked it back into the wallet and then back into Louis’ pocket.  

“All right, have a good rest of your day.” The vampire said and passed the water back to Harry and the two of them walked out. Louis didn’t ask any questions. The rest of the drive was silent, other than the clicking of Louis’ waterbottle opening every few minutes and the gentle thumping of his thigh against the seat as it bounced with nerves.

 

When they got to his parents house, he wanted to change his mind. It was a small place, attached at the left to another home. It looked like a welcoming little place, but he was still beyond nervous.

“Louis, I know you’re nervous, but it’s going to be okay. I’m with you. I’ve got you. We can leave if it gets too much.”

“Okay.” He said with a slightly-forced smile before letting Harry open his door again, jumping out with a bit less enthusiasm. The two of them walked up the pathway and over to the door, Louis’ heart beating out of his chest.

Harry knocked and he felt dizzy.

The door opened and Louis throat felt tight.

A woman walked to the porch with a baby on her hip and a dog barked from inside the house. Her eyes widened when she saw Harry, but she didn’t spare a glance at Louis. “Hello, Mr.Styles. Can I help you with something?”

“Hello Mrs. Tomlinson. I believe I spoke to your husband earlier, is he home?”

“He will be home in about twenty minutes.” She said softly. “You can come in if you’d like.” Harry nodded and took Louis’ hand, leading the both of them inside. “He said something about someone coming over – “ she said with a little laugh. “But he didn’t – goodness. I apologize for not being prepared to host you, sir. I –“

“It’s very alright. This isn’t a formal meeting.” Louis felt like he was going to pass out. A pretty girl walked down the stairs and held his eyesight, her eyebrows furrowing.

“Mum,” She whispered, leaning to her ear and only then did the woman’s eyes meet his own. The girl then smiled and reached her hand out, shaking Harry’s with a polite nod. “I’m Charlotte.” She was human. The baby was human. He wanted to throw up.

“Harry.” Harry said softly, with a smile. Louis pushed the word out of his throat.

“Louis.” The woman stumbled, nearly dropping the baby on her hip and Harry used his speed to help her catch herself.

“Louis.” The girl said – “As in –“ Louis just nodded slowly, every nerve in his body felt like it was on fire.

“Yeah. I – Shouldn’t have. Come here.” He turned and ran out the door, leaving Harry with a baby in his arms, but he couldn’t feel anything but overwhelmed. He ran and ran and ran until he knew he couldn’t anymore. His surroundings hadn’t settled in until he finally stopped running.

The panic was terrible, then. Even worse than it had been when he was standing in front of his parents. He had no idea where he was. There were people everywhere and not a single one of them even spared him a glance. He pushed against the crowd, finding the side of a building and touching it, just to feel something solid. He’d messed up _royally._ The sun burned his eyes whenever he looked up to try and find anything that looked familiar, but in his panic of running out here, he hadn’t really been watching where he was going.

It took a long while for him to catch his breath, but finally he went into a little shop and jumped at the sound of a bell ringing. There were so many things about the world he just – didn’t understand. It was hard for him to wrap his head around it all.

“Hey! You can’t be in here!” A woman called from behind a counter before coming up to him and her face paled. One glance at the door and he saw the picture of a stick figure with a red X through it. He assumed it meant this was a human free store, even if he couldn’t read the sign beyond the “no” at just a glance. But she spoke again, eyes glancing down to his jacket. “Oh, oh I’m – Sorry. Sir. You’re welcome here. Please just tell me if you need anything.”

She scampered off to her counter again. He glanced down at the jacket Harry had given him and frowned slightly.

“S…t… why…el…s” He mumbled to himself and – Oh. It was Harry’s last name. He reached into the pocket and found his wallet, opening it to an array of cards and colored paper and coins. He’d watched Harry trade a card in the wallet for gas in his car earlier and assumed that was how stores worked, so he took three of the bags of his mint candy and a juice from the lines of foods on the wall and took it to the woman.

“Will this – be all for you sir?”

“Yes. Thank you.” He handed her the same card and her eyes widened again.

“Tell – Mr. Styles I’m so sorry for not assuming you were his. I um, didn’t read his name – “

“It’s alright. I understand.” He smiled, taking the bag full of the things he’d gotten before leaving.

 

His entire body felt numb. He was walking along the streets and people were busy all around him, talking on phones or playing on them. A few vampires gave him dirty looks, but he was just so confused. He didn’t know where he was, and looking around only made him more confused. The people around him were overwhelming and he was suddenly feeling ill again. He ducked over into a side alley – the only place he could find without people in it – and sat on the ground.

Finally, he cried. He finally let all of the emotions take over his body and the sobs shook him. A ringing noise startled him out of the sobbing and he caught his breath before taking the phone in his hand and pressing the green button. He hoped that was what he was supposed to push.

“Harry!” He said happily when he phone lit up again. There were still a few stray tears running down his face, but they calmed when he figured someone would come save him soon.

“Louis?” Zayn’s voice said on the other line. Oh. It was Zayn.

“Zayn – Zayn I – I messed up.”

“Babe, what did you do? Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I – Harry took me into town and… I panicked. I freaked out and ran away and now I don’t know where I am. I just want to go home – I can’t –“

“Hey, hey, shh. It’s all good, babe. Tell me what the nearest green sign on a pole says. I know you can sound the sounds out for me, yeah? You’ve gotten much better.”

“I – okay.” He stood, turning his head around.

“You – en – eye – oh – en – Um. Onion?”

“Union?”

“Yeah! That sounds right.”

“Okay, okay babe. I know where you are. Stay put and I’ll be there soon.” The phone went dead after that and he just sat and waited. It was getting dark out and it made him even more nervous. Usually the night was calming to him, the time he was supposed to be awake and surviving and moving. But now he was out and alone and he didn’t know where he was and he was _scared._

He shoved six candies into his mouth to focus on something other than the fear.

 

Zayn showed up a while later, when most of the people had finally left the streets and there were only a few left. “Come on, babe. Harry’s waiting for you at home.”

“Are you coming back?”

“Not yet.” Louis tensed.

“Why?”

“I just – need some time, Lou. It’s nothing against you. Please don’t think that.” Louis was crying again. “I’ll come back soon, just not yet.”

“Okay.” He sniffled.

“You used Harry’s card, didn’t you?” The vampire asked with a little laugh, eyeing the bag in his hand. Louis finally smiled a little.

“Yeah. Is that bad?”

“Well, it’s just a few things so I don’t think he’ll care.” Louis nodded twice. They both got into Zayn’s car and Louis stared out of the window, watching as the sun set and darkness took over the sky around him.

 

It wasn’t long before the car stopped in front of the house again and Louis froze when he saw Harry. He looked … upset. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was frowning.

“Go on, babe. I’ll see you later.”

“You’re throwing me to the wolves! Look at him! He’s mad!”

“Not wolves, babe. Just one vampire.” Zayn laughed but Louis shook his head. “Go on. He’ll only get worse if you wait. He’s not going to kill you.” Louis whined as he opened the door, Zayn giving him a soft smile when he finally undid his seatbelt and got out.

The asshole vampire drove off right after he closed it behind him. Harry didn’t say anything, and Louis’ thoughts were racing.

“Harry I –“

“Quiet. Go inside.” Louis walked inside quickly, staring down at the ground. “I cannot believe you did that. I cannot _believe_ you ran off and left me like that – when I gave you what you wanted! You said you wanted to meet your parents, but that was all a ploy to get me to take you into the city so you could run off, wasn’t it?” Louis shook his head, shocked at what Harry was saying. He knew the vampire was mad – _fuming_ probably – just because he wouldn’t listen to him. He wouldn’t even listen to his thoughts to show he was telling the truth! He was scared.

“No! No, it wasn’t.”

“I said be quiet.” Harry snapped and Louis felt small. He was _scared._ He was so scared. The two of them stood there for a long while in the silence, Louis’ sniffles the only sound in the room. “Okay, stop crying. Please? You can explain now. I was angry. I’m sorry.”

“I- I just. I – didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to get lost like that I just – ran because I was scared and – then I was in the city – and I didn’t know where I was.” He sniffled again. “I don’t know how to work your phone to call anyone – and Zayn called me. I thought it was you! And … I’m sorry for running away.” Harry pulled him into a hug and Louis cried again.

He cried harder than he had been, but maybe that was just because he felt like he was being forgiven.

“I forgive you. You’re alright.” Harry whispered to him softy. “But you are still going over my knee.”

“What?!” Louis pulled away from the hug quickly and Harry laughed.

“Zayn agreed on it before you even got here. I could hear his thoughts from the car and – oh, man. He knew.” Louis was frowning. This was not funny!

“No one touches my arse without my permission! You don’t have my permission!” Louis squawked – running up the stairs once again. Harry took him back into his grip when he was at the top, but he’d tried.

“Okay. I’ll let you chose. We either do this now, or we eat first and then do it.” Louis was still frowning.

“It’s my birthday! You can’t spank me on my birthday!” Harry shook his head with a little laugh.

“After supper it is, then.”

“No! Okay. No. Just.” He fidgeted with the sleeves of Harry’s jacket, still frowning. “Let’sjustgetitoverwith.” He said quickly, words streaming together.

“What was that?” Harry asked with his stupid signature smirk and – Louis wanted to scream.

“Let’s just get it over with.”

“Alright. How about you go change into something a little more comfortable first and come to my room when you’re done.”

Louis was not happy. Not happy one bit! Zayn knew! That’s why he seemed so – _smug_ about sending him off to Harry. This made him feel stupid – like he was a child all over again. The last time he’d been spanked was when he was nine after stealing cookies from the kitchen without asking. Well, other than the playful smacks on his bum Zayn did sometimes, but. He was not happy at all.

He changed into joggers and a jumper and sat on his bed. Harry probably thought this was hilarious and that made him even more uncomfortable! He frowned and got up, walking down the hall and into Harry’s room.

The vampire was sitting on the edge of his bed, legs crossed as he typed away at his phone. But when he walked in, the phone was discarded and he uncrossed his legs, patting at his lap. “Come on, make this easy, yeah?” Louis sighed, fidgeting with the ends of his jumper.

“I’m too old for this. This is stupid.” He huffed.

“Zayn would disagree. I spanked him when he was 300.”

“You - Spanked Zayn.” Louis’ eyebrows raised up.

“Well, he is my make. It’s my job to keep him in line. Now come on, it’s my job to keep you in line, too.” After fidgeting a few moments longer, Louis went and settled himself onto Harry’s lap with a groan. He didn’t like this. Not one bit. “Good. I’m gonna let you keep your pants on this time, but don’t expect that if this has to happen again.” Louis didn’t respond, instead he just took a breath and tried to keep himself calm. This entire thing was – _weird._ It felt weird. He jumped when Harry’s hand touched his arse, then, but it wasn’t a smack. Just a touch, and it calmed him. It was odd how much a simple touch could calm him down. “You’re okay, Louis. Don’t be so scared, this isn’t going to hurt long.”

“ _Long!_ It’s still gonna hurt!”

“That’s the point.”

“Just get it over with, please?” Harry didn’t respond, instead his hand lifted and came back down with a loud _whap._ It didn’t really hurt as bad as he’d thought it was going to. Maybe being spanked had been so much more intimidating when he was a kid for a – “ _Ow!_ ” He shouted when Harry hit the same spot, harder.

“Eight more.” The hits didn’t get much harder after the second one, but by the end, Louis was crying again, hands clutching at Harry’s jeans. “There, all done. You’re okay.” Louis was still quiet. “Come on, sit up, Lou. I know it’s been a pretty long day emotionally, but you’re alright now.” He sat up, but climbed back on to Harry’s lap. The vampire smiled.

“Thank you.” Louis whispered, leaning his forehead on Harry’s shoulder.

“For what?” The vampire asked, one hand rubbing small circles into where he’d hit him.

“I don’t know. I feel grounded.” Harry was quiet a moment as he ran his fingers through Louis’ hair. It was a strange admission – that it felt _good_ to be taken care of. To feel like someone was there to guide him. Living with Zayn had always left him to take care of himself, more like living with a friend than someone who was going to help him live. He’d always been raised being helped and catered to, just because that was how he was supposed to live. He’d always expected he’d be told what to do and given things he was expected to do, but when it didn’t turn out that way, it confused him. Harry made him feel – better.

“I care about you, Louis. I was so worried when you disappeared – because I knew you didn’t know your way back.”

“You confuse me.”

“I know. I confuse myself, too.”

“Do you really care about me? Or do you resent me, Harry?”

“I care about you, Louis. It’s – just. Hard for me. Because you’re human. You’re so …”

“Temporary.”

“Yeah.” Louis didn’t say anything more, just let himself enjoy the feeling of Harry’s arms around him. The vampire didn’t seem to mind, either, as the silence covered the both of them. Eventually, Harry laid down and let Louis stay laid on top of him.

“Can I stay?”

“Of course.”

 

 _Guess it's true, I'm not good at a one-night stand_  
_But I still need love 'cause I'm just a man_  
_These nights never seem to go to plan_  
_I don't want you to leave, will you hold my hand?_

\- Stay With Me, Sam Smith 

 

Two weeks went by and Louis hadn’t slept in his own bed.

In the first days, he asked every day if he could come in to sleep with him, but by the time the first week ended, it became expected. Neither of them bothered to ask what it meant, neither of them asked any questions at all. Louis just liked to have Harry beside him and it seemed like Harry did, too, since he hadn’t sent him away just yet.

He opened his eyes one morning with a warm feeling in his stomach, head resting on Harry’s chest as he laid on top of the vampire. It was like every other morning except – _oh._ Oh, God. He was hard and rubbing against Harry, who was clearly very awake and watching him.

“Oh, my God. I’m so –“ His face felt like it was on fire as he climbed off of the vampire and covered his face in embarrassment. “This is embarrassing. I’m so sorry.”

“Louis?” Harry asked, his face emotionless. He looked at him, then, dropping his hands from his face.

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”  Louis was stunned. He watched Harry for a moment, trying to see if he was _kidding_ in any way. But. It didn’t seem like he was. So he nodded. Harry leaned over to him, his hand running over his cheek briefly before their lips came together.

It was _perfect._

Harry’s lips were soft against his and his hands were warm against his skin and he wanted to stay there, kissing Harry, forever. The vampire pulled away after a while, the both of them keeping eye contact when he did. “You’re incredibly beautiful, Louis. I hope you know that.” His cheeks burned again.

“Not too bad yourself, Styles.” Harry moved a stray hair from his eyes, tucking it behind his ear. “Can you…”

“Hm?” Harry was smiling again. Louis knew the vampire could easily read his thoughts and tell what he wanted – but Louis didn’t really _know_ what he wanted. He’d never done this before. “What do you need, love?” _Love._ His heart fluttered. “Want me to kiss you again? Touch you? Make you feel good?”

“ _Harry – “_

“Is that a yes?”

“I don’t – I don’t know.” He frowned just slightly when Harry pulled away at that.

“No one’s ever touched you?” Louis shook his head. Harry stared at him for a moment longer before running a hand down his cheek softly. “Alright, I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to – stop. What you were doing was… nice. You said –“

“Do you want me to touch you Louis?” Louis nodded. “Use your words, love.”

“Yes, please.”

“Polite. I like it.” Harry said with a smile and Louis’ cheeks felt warm again. “Just tell me if anything I do makes you uncomfortable, alright? If you want to stop, it’s no problem.”

“Okay.” Louis said softly and Harry pressed his lips against his once again. This kiss wasn’t quite as soft – but it wasn’t rough either – just a good feeling of Harry pressed completely against him and their bodies coming together. He considered it for a moment, the thought making his entire body warm, before climbing back into Harry’s lap, smiling at the vampire when he threaded his fingers through his hair.

It was better being closer.

Sitting so close, with their crotches pressed together, Louis could feel that Harry was hard, too, beneath him. It helped him feel a bit less embarrassed because _he_ did that. Harry kissing him did that. Harry’s lips moved from his mouth to his jaw, teeth making little nips against his skin and Louis never thought _that_ would feel so – _nice._ His hands went to Harry’s chest, touching the bare skin there just because he felt like he could, now. It was almost _freeing_ to be able to touch Harry.

“Harry – I’m – please do something _more.”_

“Okay, love. We’re not going to go too far today, alright? I don’t want to overwhelm you.”

“’Kay.” He nodded, but Harry’s hands went to his boxers taking his now fully hard cock from the material and squeezing. Louis whined softly, the noise from the back of his throat unexpected, but he didn’t pay too much attention.

Harry’s hands were huge and soft at his palms, but his finger tips were rough and when his thumb ran over the head of his cock, Louis moaned. “Oh – that – feels good.” He was panting. Harry didn’t say anything, just kept his hand moving quickly over Louis’ cock until he was warm everywhere – the heat back in his face and he was panting.

Then he stopped.

Louis wanted to hit him.

“Why’d you – stop?” Harry just winked, kissed him again, harder this time, before – _oh._ He got his own cock out, held both of them together and kept his hand with the same speed over both. It felt – _better._ His hand still wrapped around both, but the added movement made the friction even better.

“Harry I’m – “

“S’okay. You can come.” He didn’t have to be told twice. He came with a shout and rested his head against Harry’s shoulder, eyes closed. Harry’s hand moved pumped him through his orgasm until he came, too, and then they were both still. His entire body felt at ease, like his limbs were jello and everything was calm.

“Now I’m tired again.” Harry reached over to get something Louis wasn’t paying attention to, but then he felt cloth against his stomach and he figured he was cleaning both of them up.

“I think going back to bed is fine. I don’t have anything to do today.”

Louis slept with Harry’s arms wrapped around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone: Alex, stop using dashes in your writing  
> Me: ʕง•ᴥ•ʔง


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nc17. Tw: abuse. 
> 
> Ps: Lottie is older than Louis in this AU for development purposes.

_I'll wait, I'll wait_   
_I love you like you've never felt the pain, I'll wait_   
_I promise you don't have to be afraid, I'll wait_   
_The love you see right here stays so lay your head on me_

Little do you know - Alex and Sierra

 

Louis didn’t sleep for more than an hour, and when he woke, Harry was playing on a strange looking… _thing_ that kept making a clicking noise. “Hey, good morning.” Harry said, glancing down to the human beside him. Louis sat up and rolled his shoulders to stretch.

“What’s that thing?”

“It’s a computer. Stupid thing, really, but it’s useful to talk to people who are far away.”

“You talk to people on that thing? Seems kind of big to hold up to your ear.” The vampire laughed, shaking his head and smiling.

“No, you just… use the keys to write what you want to say and they write back.”

“Oh, that’s kind of cool.” Harry nodded. “If you’re… older than Zayn… how come you have all of the, like, more modern technology and he doesn’t have any?”

“Zayn’s really sheltered. He prefers to talk to others face to face because he gets in a lot of moods where he doesn’t want to talk to anyone at all.”

“Like now?”

“Like now. Plus he isn’t really obligated to talk to vampires from all over the world all of the time like I am.”

“Can I ask you about that? Why does everyone know you?”

“It’s a long story.” Louis had learned to not take it personally when a vampire didn’t want to talk about their life. So he just nodded.

“I’m gonna go make breakfast. French toast okay?”

“Sure. I’ll be down soon.”

“Kay.” Louis climbed out of bed, blushing at the memories from last night as the cold against his skin made him realize he was in only his boxers.

“You can borrow one of my shirts if you want?” Louis nodded, trying not to think too much into the sentiment. Harry wanted him in his clothing – wanted to make sure he looked like he was _his._ He couldn’t – wouldn’t – get caught up in that. His life wasn’t meant for romance. It wasn’t meant for him to find a happy ending with someone who cared for him as much as he cared for them. He was made to serve someone else and make sure they were happy, even if it would only hurt him in the end.

He’d gotten used to that.

He put on one of Harry’s t-shirts anyway, smiling at the way it fell down to his knees as he walked out of the room. He was happy like this. Happy to have a purpose – to feel like someone wanted him for something.

He made up four pieces of his French toast – what he liked to consider his specialty – and chopped up some fruit as well. Placing it on two plates, he carried them to the top of the stairs and pushed the door open with his foot. The vampire wasn’t on his – thing – anymore, but rather was picking a few things up off the floor before smiling up at him. “I didn’t know if you wanted to – eat up here or…”

“We can eat in here.” _We._ “I don’t mind.” Louis smiled and handed the vampire his plate, settling on the bed beside him once Harry had. They ate in a comfortable silence as Louis pretended to ignore the glances he could see Harry giving in his direction. He wasn’t sure why his palms were sweaty or why he felt like he was floating – but he had a feeling it had to do with Harry.

Harry really was going to turn his world upside down.

 

It started with Louis and a small handful of whipped cream. He thought it would be funny, really. So he just – rubbed it down Harry’s face. It _was_ funny and he laughed so hard his eyes got watery, so much that when he saw the vampires expression, his stomach cramped with how hard he was laughing.

“It’s on.” The vampire said and Louis screeched. He hadn’t expected anything bigger to come from his actions, but then again, Harry was all about making things _big_ and surprising Louis. So when he had two palm-fulls of honey rubbed down the sides of his face, he really shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Honey! That’s sticky! So unfair!” He screeched, but opened the refrigerator and scooped out a spoonful of jam, launching it straight into the center of Harry’s chest.

It only got worse from there, Louis resorted to powders and eggs and all things _messy_ while Harry kept to the things that were sticky and sweet. Harry won, of course when he took the bottle of chocolate sauce and poured it down Louis’ shirt, effectively covering his entire chest and stomach with the sticky chocolate.

“Truce! Truce! You win!” Louis said through a laugh. Harry just grinned.

“How kind of you to say that – because now I plan to lick all of that chocolate right off of you.” Louis blushed. Of _course_ Harry had planned it. What other reason would there have been for keeping everything that was smeared on him sweet?

“That sounds like a challenge, Styles.” He retorted, shivering as Harry came closer, breath against his neck.

“I can make it a challenge, since you seem to enjoy them so much.”

“Lay it on me.”

“If you come before I’m done, I win and you have to shower with me. Help me get all of this off.”

“If I don’t?” He asked, voice breathless as Harry licked off some of the honey on his jaw.

“You win, and anything you want, goes.” Louis swallowed hard, his entire body suddenly feeling warm.

“You’re on.” Harry picked him up and set him down on the dining room table, then, and Louis couldn’t help the giggle. “I think you’re taking this too seriously, Harry. You’re not _actually_ eating me.”

“Would you rather be on the floor?” Harry quirked an eyebrow.

“Okay, okay, carry on.” He propped himself up on his elbows, facing the vampire who was just – _staring._ It made Louis’ stomach twist in knots. Finally, he moved, pulling Louis’ shirt off and tossing it aside, soon followed by his trousers and his pants and – _oh._ Louis had never felt this exposed, especially while Harry was still fully clothed.

“Sh, I’ll get naked eventually. But this is about you, remember?” Louis’ face burned, but he stopped thinking when Harry’s lips met his. His eyes were closed and he kept his weight on one arm as the other hand went to tangle in Harry’s hair – just running his fingers through it. He loved Harry’s hair. The vampire let him touch just for a moment, but before long, he took hold of his wrist and pinned it down to the table, keeping Louis from touching and keeping him in place. “Lay back, love. I don’t want you to do anything but let me take care of you.” He couldn’t help the breathless whimper and he lowered himself down to lay on the table, eyes closed.

Harry’s lips went to his jaw, kissing the skin there a few times before moving to his neck. It was covered in honey still, thick and sticky against his skin but – _oh._ Harry’s tongue ran over his pule point before he sucked at the same spot, pulling a whine from the back of Louis’ throat.

Maybe it was the sense of danger, the knowledge that if Harry let his fangs come out he’d be feeding on him, but it fueled the fire in his stomach. His cock took interest at the feeling of the vampire’s tongue against his skin – at the feeling of being marked up as Harry sucked marks into his skin.

He wasn’t fully hard, not yet, but his breathing was shorter as Harry licked and kissed around his skin, spending the most time in the places he could tell were more sensitive. He nipped softly at the part of his jaw right below his ear and Louis moaned – fists clenching in search of something to grab at below him. “There’s – not even anything there! Cheater!” Harry just grinned at him, wiggling his eyebrows to make Louis laugh.

“I didn’t say I was going to play fair, love.” Really, Harry shouldn’t look beautiful like this, but Louis thought he was. He had smears of whipped cream running from the bridge of his nose down his mouth and chin, and peanut butter covering a decent portion of his left arm, and there was powdered sugar in his hair – but he was beautiful.

He was lost in his thoughts until he felt Harry’s mouth around one of his nipples, making him jerk forward in shock. “Oh – _god.”_ He breathed out, squirming underneath the vampire until his hands held his waist down to keep him still.

Louis was not going to survive this.

“Stay still for me, babe.” He stayed pliant under Harry even when he wasn’t _really_ being held down. Harry kept one hand on his hip, but the other went to tease and rub around his other nipple. There wasn’t as much chocolate sauce as he’d originally thought – rather just a bit covering his stomach and chest, but Harry seemed to forget what this bet was _about._

Louis didn’t really care, actually.

“I believe the rule was you could only use your mouth, Styles.” He whined out, though. It just wouldn’t be _Louis_ enough if he kept all of his snarky comments to himself. Harry pulled away to look at him, eyebrow quirked again.

“You’re going to really wish you hadn’t said that, love. Cause there are a lot of things I can do with my mouth to make you eat your words.” Louis didn’t doubt it. Harry was obviously more experienced in the whole… _sex thing_ than he was. But, he just shrugged instead.

“Prove it.”

Harry’s hands found place back at his hips and he mouthed around his chest, catching little drops of the chocolate on his tongue. It was a strange sensation, really, but Louis was keening under it. He’d never thought something like this would feel so _good._

Harry pulled away again, making Louis whine softly since he hadn’t said something to make him do so. But the vampire just shot a wink in his direction, pulling a hair tie from around his wrist and tying his hair up. Louis watched his movements, just smiling at the vampire. He loved how this wasn’t rushed – loved how Harry was willing to take his time and banter with him and make it slow when it could have been rushed and fast.

Harry’s hands went back to his hips when he was done with his hair, and he sucked marks into his thighs. The vampire’s hands moved down from his hips to his thighs, pressing so his knees were flush against his chest and Louis stared down at him, eyebrows furrowed.

“You trust me, yeah?” Harry said, sensing his insecurity.

“Yeah.”

“Lean your head back and relax.” Louis did as he was told, staring at the ceiling above him. He was about to ask Harry what he was planning on doing when – _oh._ He liked a stripe straight from his hole to the sensitive skin at the bottom of his balls. He jerked, but Harry’s hands kept him in place. After that, Harry was relentless, tongue pressing and licking around his rim as Louis moaned and writhed above him. His hands were pulling at his own hair, just for something to hold on to, and his toes were curled up.

His entire vocabulary was decreased to “ _Harryharryharry”_ and “ _pleasepleaseplease”_ but he wasn’t really entirely sure what he was begging for. Harry seemed to, though, because as soon as the stream of begging left Louis’ lips, he pushed his tongue _inside_ and Louis came with a shout of Harry’s name. Harry didn’t stop, though, he kept at it through his orgasm until Louis’ body felt like jelly and he wasn’t sure he could move even if he wanted to.

“I win.” Harry said with a little wink, kissing Louis knee as he let his legs go back flat.

“Yeah. Yeah, you do.” Louis said breathlessly. Maybe Harry had won more than just their little bet.

“I’ll let you recover for a while, but I am going to collect on my prize.” Louis barked out a laugh, slightly embarrassed at how loud it was, but he sat up and looked at the vampire.

“Carry me away then, prize winner.” He stuck his arms out as a joke, but he pretended not to keen under the fact that Harry _actually_ picked him up and carried him off to the shower.

If he sucked Harry off in the shower and Harry ate him out again until he cried, well, that was just between the two of them.

 

“Zayn said he plans on coming back on Friday.” Harry said, hanging up the phone as Louis sat in the living room drawing in his journal.

“Oh, cool.” He said with a smile.

“You don’t sound as excited as I thought you would be.” Harry said, sitting on the couch beside him. Louis closed his journal and set it aside. He had an odd urge to scoot closer to Harry, to just let the older vampire hold him.

“No! No, I’m excited.”

“But?” Harry said, quirking an eyebrow. Fuck the mindreading, really. He hated it.

“But things go back to normal when he comes back, don’t they?”

“What’s wrong with normal?”

“Nothing.” Louis shrugged, but Harry dropped it. He was grateful for that.

 

“Wanna go shopping?” Harry asked one day as he was getting dressed. Most of Louis’ clothing had been stuffed into his drawers, since he hadn’t really even been in his own room in the last week. Harry didn’t seem to mind.

“Shopping? You mean like you want me to write down what we need or..”

“No, like… Do you want to come with me? I need to get some new trousers. So… would you like to come to the mall with me?” Louis didn’t know what a _mall_ was, but he nodded, smiling wide with the thought of being allowed out in public again.

“Yes, yes I’d love to! When?”

“Probably like, two hours, yeah? The sun will be coming up soon, so there will be more human shops open.” Louis was smiling.

“That sounds fun.”  He looked out the window at the darkness in the sky, wishing he could will the sun to come up faster. “I’m going to go shower and stuff, then.”

“Want me to join you?”

“Sorry, Styles, I’m not like the other girls. I don’t put out that easily!” He said with a laugh and rolled his eyes at Harry’s pout.

 

He’d only been in Harry’s car twice – but it still brought such a feeling of content. It was a strange comfort that he wasn’t sure he could pinpoint. Harry had picked out something for him to wear, a decent suit that Zayn had gotten him for a small party he’d thrown at his house a year prior, since they were going to go out somewhere fancy to eat when they were finished shopping.

It was a little tight on his bum since that had been the only part of his body that had really grown after puberty, but Harry just said it made him look good. So he didn’t mind.

“So what are we going to shop for?”

“Well, I figured I need some new clothes, since I left pretty much everything… away… when I left. And you have like, ten pairs of clothes, so you can get whatever you want, too.”

 

“Excuse me?” Louis heard from behind him and he and Harry turned around. It was the girl from his parent’s house. He blinked a few times, taking a step back from discomfort. “I’m – I’m sorry Mr.Styles, if I’m – intruding. But – would it be okay if I spoke to Louis? Just for a moment.”

“Lou, you wanna talk to her?” Harry asked, taking his hand in his larger one.

“I – Yeah. Yeah. I do.” Harry nodded.

“Alright. I’ll be right here.” Louis gave a smile and looked to the girl, stepping away from Harry and going up to her. She walked towards a table and took a seat, so Louis joined her, sat across from her.

“I’m Charlotte – or Lottie. Um. Is what mum calls me.”

“I’m Louis.” She gave a sad smile. “Why’d – how come you wanted to talk to me?”

“I don’t know, really. I mean, I saw how nervous you got when you saw me and – I know it’s because I’m human, too, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. That was – definitely part of the reason. I don’t – I’m sorry I ran off like that. It was terribly rude.”

“Mum understood.”

“Can you not – call her like she’s my mother? I know she is biologically but –“ The girl got a look of guilt over her face and Louis felt bad for saying anything.

“I understand.” She paused. “I just. I wanted to tell you that m- my mum – was really crushed after we left you.” Louis looked to the floor.

“How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“So they got rid of me because… _what_? They liked you more?” The girl still had a guilty look on her face.

“No, Louis. It’s – it’s a gender thing. Dad – _my_ dad, sorry -  had me set up with a vampire that he planned on me marrying from the time they left you. They couldn’t really set a human boy up with a vampire girl so… since my dad has a bias against humans, he just, he knew you’d find a human to marry. So he just… got rid of that option.”

“I – don’t understand.”

“I don’t either, Louis.” She sighed. “But if it makes you feel any better, he’s pretty wrecked over the fact that you’re a thing with Mr.Styles. He’s right torn over the fact that you practically have more power than he does, now.” Louis hadn’t realized he was crying until then, when he watched a tear hit the table. But he laughed anyway, the image forming a funny picture in his head.

“I appreciate you telling me all of this, Lottie.” She smiled at the use of her nickname. “But I still just want to know why?”

“You’re my brother Louis. If that means anything to you like it does to me, I’d really like to make something out of a friendship with you one day.”

“That’s really kind, but there’s only one problem with that.”

“What?”

“Mum and dad made sure I’d never have a life that could include friends.” He gave a sad smile. She frowned.

“There’s no way around it, is there?”

“I mean, if you can talk my keeper or my –“ _father figure?_ What was Liam to him? “Keeper’s boyfriend into it, it’s a bit more likely.”

“Who are they?”

“Liam Payne and Zayn…” He didn’t know Zayn’s last name. What?

“Malik.”

“Sure.”

“Okay. I’ll try, Louis. I hope I’ll see you again.”

“Bye, Lottie.” He was a bit taken back when she hugged him after he stood, but after a moment he hugged her back. Human touch was so different from the touch of a vampire and he never wanted to let go. But he did. She walked the opposite direction that Louis did and when Louis got back to Harry, the vampire immediately drew him into a hug.

“Thank you for letting me talk to her.”

“Of course, love. You’re free to do just about anything you like when I’m with you, yeah?” Louis smiled.

“Can we go out and eat now? I think I’d just like that and then home.” _Home._ That was the first time he’d referred to it that way.

“Yeah, anything you like.”

 

HarryandLouis was becoming something – _normal._ Harry knew how happy Louis got when he offered to allow him to go to the store with him. Louis knew how much Harry loved the spot right between his shoulder blades rubbed. Harry knew how much Louis loved to sit in Harry’s lap. They knew each other far too well to have only known each other two months.

But that was what scared him about _normal._  

He knew when Zayn came back, Harry would go away. He wouldn’t be stuck on baby-sitting duty anymore. Zayn would be back in charge of him and the loneliness would come back all at once. He’d have to get used to sleeping in a bed by himself all over again, he’d have to get used to Zayn’s mood swings that would often leave him by himself for days at a time. He’d have to get used to watching Liam and Zayn love each other while he was lonely.

He didn’t like normal.

“I don’t want you to go.” Louis said that day, as the sun started rising and his eyes were heavy with sleep.

“How come?”

“Y’make me happy.” He said with a happy sigh as sleep finally took over.

 

 

“What?” Came Zayn’s tone and Louis took a step back. “I have to go, Harry. I’ll call you later.” Zayn hung up the phone and Louis was scared. He’d never heard the vampire sound that angry – and he certainly had never heard it directed at him. “You _what?”_ Louis froze, blinked twice as he stared at his keeper. His chest was tensed up, heart beating heavy and fast and hard.

“I –“

“How dare you. How _dare_ you do that to me! How could you – what the _fuck_ made you think that was okay?!” Louis’ first instinct was to run away – to flee from the dangerous vampire in front of him as he screamed. So he tried, turned on his heel and ran towards the stairs.

Zayn didn’t let him, had him pressed up against the wall as his head slammed against it so quickly that he had barely felt the movement. For the second time this year, he was certain he was going to die. This was it. Zayn had finally been pushed over the edge.

“You embarrassed me in front of my maker and you think you can just – get away with that?” Zayn’s hands were still on his shoulders, squeezing so tightly he knew they’d be bruised in the morning. The air around him was buzzing, a tell-tell sign of how much he’d really managed to piss Zayn off. It was terrifying.

“Zayn please – I didn’t mean to. I just –“

“You just _what?_ I’ve given you nothing but a good life! You know as well as I do that this is the best you could have gotten. Liam wanted me to take care of you – wanted me to make sure you had a good, happy life and I damn sure made well on my agreement. But you just – do you not _want_ that? Do you _want_ to be someone’s little blood slave? Are you unhappy being treated well?” Louis squeezed his eyes shut, keeping the tears at bay. Zayn knew his words were cutting deep. He knew what he was saying was hurting him – Zayn was much too calculated to _not_ know that. “Harry was right all along. Funny, innit? I thought – I always thought humans were good at heart. Pure, or whatever. But it’s not true, is it? You don’t care who you hurt in the process of getting what you want!” There was a long pause, then. Zayn didn’t let go of him and there was no change in the feeling of the room, but it was quiet. “Look at me!” Was the next thing Zayn said, voice so low it was seething. Louis’ nose started bleeding as he met Zayn’s gaze.

“You’re going to get what you want then. I’ll start treating you like the – like the – stupid little slave you want to be!” He saw it coming, even in the moments before it happened. He saw the way Zayn tensed, saw the way he raised his hand, and then all he felt was the pain. It bloomed in the side of his face as Zayn’s fist met the bone of his jaw – and then it was just dark.

 

Louis’ eyes opened to light streaming into the living room windows. He was still on the floor where he’d fallen – neck strained in an awkward angle against his shoulder. There was dried, crusty blood stained down his shirt and all over his face, which until that moment he hadn’t realized hurt so terribly. He reached up to touch the part of his face he’d been struck and immediately drew his hand back, wincing in pain.

After taking a few more deep breaths, he pulled himself up, shoulders sore and tense, too, before going to the kitchen. He laid out a cloth and placed ice cubes inside, wrapping the cloth around the ice and holding it to his jaw. The pressure hurt, but the cold helped relieve the ache. He really hadn’t meant to – defame Zayn. If that was what he’d done. It wasn’t purposeful. He really didn’t even remember saying what Zayn had told him he’d said – perhaps something he’d said in the midst of falling asleep. _Fuck -_ it could have even just been in his head.

He stopped in the bathroom and scrubbed the blood from his face, not glancing at the mirror. He didn’t want to see how bad it was. But once his face felt clean, he retreated to his room and finally let himself cry.

He was terrified.

He wanted Liam, wanted to be able to sit in his lap and cry again like he had when he was a kid. He wanted Harry to come and wrap his arms around him and pet his hair. But instead, he laid in bed alone and listened to the silence in the house until he cried himself to sleep.

 

Two days later, as he stared at the reflection back at him in the mirror, he still couldn’t help but wince. The bruise grew from the darkest part at the very edge of his jaw to slightly lighter, more purple-tinged marks along the back of his jaw and up to his eye. It still hurt to chew his food or talk too much, but he was okay. This was what he’d expected all along, right? This was how he’d expected his life to be, so now that the universe was making his reality catch up with his expectations he really had no reason to complain about it.

Right?

 

He sat in his room most of the time after that. Often times, he didn’t leave his bed unless Zayn wanted him for something specific. Their meal times didn’t match up anymore and it all felt… unreal. Zayn had never been this cold to him, never been so – _distant_ and it made him feel unwell. Worse than unwell, actually.

He thought about how much better it would be if he was just dead.

 

“Louis?” Came a voice from the bottom of the stairs. It was Zayn. His heart rate picked up when he realized he was being summoned. He took a breath, calming himself down before exiting the room and meeting the vampire at the base of the stairs. His eyes didn’t leave the ground – thoughts going back to how he’d been trained throughout his childhood to show a vampire respect.

_Don’t look a vampire in the eye. Many of them think you’re lesser. Don’t act as if you’re an equal._

He didn’t want to make Zayn angry again. “Lou – please. You – don’t have to do that. You don’t have to be like that.” He nodded but didn’t take his eyes from the ground. His face was still throbbing, really, even though the bruises were nearly a week old. He hadn’t realized exactly how _hard_ Zayn had hit him until he looked at the bruises. They were still so fresh-looking, so deep and dark and purple. “Look at me.”

_Obey any orders given to you._

He looked up. Zayn didn’t look angry, but more like he was just content. If he could sense Louis’ anxiety, it didn’t show. “I’m so sorry – I’m so, _so_ sorry I hit you.” The vampire exhaled softly. “I didn’t mean to become like – every other vampire. Like the ones you were raised to fear. It was a lapse in judgement, and I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Louis said, the words slipping easily past his lips. He wasn’t sure if he was actually forgiving the vampire or not, but eventually he would. Eventually.

“Thank you.” Zayn smiled. Louis looked back to the floor and tried to pretend Zayn’s words weren’t floating around in his head. He didn’t – he didn’t _want_ to live like this. He didn’t want to live like a slave, didn’t want to have everything he enjoyed taken away from him so he could be truly miserable. But after he’d really been happy with Harry, he didn’t know if life could ever be the same for him again. He wished he could tell Zayn that – wished he could communicate it in a way that didn’t sound like he was selfish. But he didn’t know how. “You can – go back to your room. I guess.” Zayn said and Louis didn’t say anything else before he was gone, up the stairs and going back to his room.

A part of him resented Harry. A _big_ part of him resented Harry because he’d shown him a life that was fake and glamourous and wonderful. He’d shown him the way that he could have lived if he hadn’t been given away as a child. Before, he hadn’t even known that life really existed and it made life so much easier. It made it easier to suppress his dreams of freedom and happiness because that’s what they’d always been. _Dreams._

“Lou?” Liam’s voice said from the other side of the door. Louis pulled the blanket over his body, shielding himself from Liam. He didn’t want Liam to see how pathetic he’d gotten. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.” He called out and sighed when he heard the door click open and then shut.

“Can you come out from under there, please? I haven’t seen you in a while, I miss you.”

“It’s warm under here.” He said, a lame excuse that he should have known Liam wouldn’t buy.

“What are you hiding, babe?” Then he felt the blanket getting pulled away and – _god,_ Liam’s face made him feel shattered. “What? Lou – What happened? Did Harry do this?” Louis just looked down. He knew if he told Liam Zayn did it, Zayn would get mad again.

The vampire had always had a certain soft spot for his pride and Louis had learned his lesson against damaging it.

“No.” He whispered.

“Did Zayn do it?”

“No! No, no. No. I fell down the stairs last week is all and – hit my face on the railing. You know I’ve always been clumsy.” Liam’s mouth was in a straight line.

“Louis, it’s terrible how good of a liar you would be to other humans, but I know your heart speeds up when you lie. You didn’t fall down the stairs.” Tears welled in his eyes. “Who hit you?”

“Please don’t, Liam. I can’t –“

“I can have Zayn talk to Harry if you want – Hell, I’ll call him right now and ask him to talk to Zayn. Zayn can put Harry in his place, make or not.” Louis just cried harder. He wished Harry was here to be able to hear his thoughts so he wouldn’t have to say it outloud. But he wouldn’t be the cause of a relationship to be ruined.

“No, it’s okay. Harry… He’s gone now.” Louis wasn’t lying. He didn’t directly say that Harry had been the one who hit him, so Liam couldn’t pick up on his fib. It was a shame, really, since now Liam would assume that it was Harry, but he wasn’t going to face Zayn’s anger again.

“Okay, love. Why don’t you come down to supper with Zayn and I, yeah?” Louis didn’t bother saying no. Liam wouldn’t take that as an answer, which was something he’d learned throughout his childhood.

“Kay.” But he tuned out most of the time. He just stared at the plate in front of him, picking apart the piece of bread as his mind wondered.

As he walked up the stairs, he tried not to panic when he heard Liam speak.

“I can’t believe Harry hit him. He’s so… scared now. Of everything. That’s not my Lou I knew. Vampires that hit humans that hard shouldn’t have any say in anything! They can’t even defend themselves against us. It’s sick.”

He ran right to the bathroom as the fear swelled up in his stomach, dry heaves shaking his entire body. Liam wasn’t supposed to say anything. He wasn’t supposed to bring it up. He hadn’t thought – oh God. He was so scared.

Silently, he went back to his room and sat in his chair by the window. He held his stuffed bear close to his chest and looked out the window. The chair and his bear were the only two things Zayn had let him keep. Maybe he knew that they were the two things that kept him sane, or maybe he’d just forgotten to take them out. But either way, Louis was going to hold on to them now, because he assumed Zayn would take them now.

Liam would be gone within an hour – the time he always left to get to work without being in the sun – and Louis would be alone with Zayn.

But then a door slammed down stairs and Louis took a deep breath.

“Louis?” Zayn said, coming into his room. He didn’t sound angry and – what? He didn’t feel angry, either. Louis brought his knees closer to his chest and turned to look at Zayn. The vampire had taken a seat on the edge of his bed. “I didn’t – I didn’t know I hurt you so badly.” Zayn looked like he was really ashamed. “I told Liam I’m the one who hit you and… I can’t believe I made you so afraid that you – felt the need to not tell Liam what was wrong. I know how close you two are and I’m just – I’m sorry.”

“You’re not mad?”

“No, no Lou I’m not mad. Did you really think I’d be mad?”

“I thought – I thought you’d be mad cause I let Liam think it was Harry. That you’d be mad for letting me make someone think Harry’s bad.”

“No, not at all. I’m – ashamed. I’m disgusted with myself. I feel awful for scaring you so badly. I was mad that you told Harry you’re unhappy here, that you don’t feel taken care of. Because now Harry thinks I can’t take care of a human, let alone a make. That’s – I projected my anger on you, Louis. I could explain myself but it won’t change the past and I’m so sorry for what I did.”

“Can I know the reason? I just. I want to know.”

“Okay. If you want. But will you come sit with me? I miss our cuddles.” Louis hesitated, but Zayn didn’t seem like he was about to burst. So he was just going to take the good while he could get it. He went to the bed with Zayn, who moved to rest against the headboard, and laid his head on his lap. “When I first changed Liam, Harry thought it was reckless and irresponsible because I could barely take care of myself, let alone a make. He was right, of course. Harry’s an asshole like that, really. Always right about everything even when he doesn’t deserve to be. So he always had someone watching us or he was always watching us. He still lived here then, for the first forty years of Liam’s vampire life.” Zayn paused, looking out the window for a long while. Louis wasn’t uncomfortable in the silence, so he just enjoyed it – enjoyed the comfort that came from being so close to Zayn.

“We – Harry and I – got in a massive row. I was so mad at him and said a lot of things I still wish I hadn’t. But basically, he left. He went to America, where he’s been the last hundred years. We kept in touch of course… it’s pretty much impossible for a make and maker to be separated entirely for too long, but he always made me feel – irresponsible. Reckless.” Zayn sighed. “At one point he said I couldn’t even take care of a human, let alone a vampire. Then … like, a decade later, Liam found you. I guess when he first asked me to take you, he imagined you’d stay a kid forever, maybe he forgot that you had to be 13 to be taken, but he’d imagined you a lot more like a son than anything else, yeah?” Louis shrugged, chest feeling tight again.

“Anyways, I got off topic sorry. But he asked me to take care of you, to make sure you didn’t get taken by some other _creep –_ like the guy right before me. He was going to take you. Stick you in his group of –“ Zayn took a deep breath. “So I did. I thought I could keep Liam happy all while proving Harry wrong. And then you told – you told Harry I didn’t make you happy and like. It proved him right. It was the truth, I know that. But – I just didn’t like hearing it. I’m sorry I took all of my anger out on you.”

“Can I explain, too?”

“Of course, Lou. Of course.”

“I didn’t tell Harry you don’t make me happy. We – um.” He felt his face get hot. “We got really – _close_ \- and I was falling asleep one night and I just – I told him I didn’t want him to leave. When he asked why I told him he makes me happy. I didn’t – I didn’t mean it in a way to say you _don’t._ You do make me happy, Zayn. But he made me happy in a different way and – I didn’t mean it the way he interpreted it, I guess.”

Zayn’s face fell.

“Fuck. I’m so – sorry. God, that makes it so much worse.”

“It’s okay, Zayn. It was one time – I’m not going to hold that against you.”

“Don’t be scared of me anymore, please? I really just – I’m never going to let it happen again. I promise.” Louis nodded.

“So you and Liam want a kid, huh?”

“Well… I mean, yeah.”

“It would be kind to take someone from the facility. That was a really nice thought, actually. Save a kid from a life of – not knowing. Make sure they can learn to read, things like that.” He could imagine Zayn and Liam being the best dads. Liam had let Louis call him dad several times as he grew up, until Louis eventually stopped the habit himself when he realized that Liam wasn't his dad. It was an awkward realization, but Liam never said anything about it. Liam was kind hearted and he could still visualize how good the vampire was with children. He hoped they could get what they wanted one day. 

“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Zayn threaded his fingers through Louis’ hair. “I’m going to call Harry and have him come back. I think – I think you deserve to be with him, if he makes you happy. And I owe him an apology for being such a twat all these years.”

“Okay.”

“By the way, what did you mean when you said you two got ‘close’?”

“I don’t kiss and tell, Zaynie.” They both laughed and everything felt okay again. Maybe there wasn’t anything wrong with _normal._ If his life was going to flip and flop and change with every step he took, he’d take all the normal he could get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [wants to ask for comments] [is too shy]


	5. V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis misses Harry. Harry comes through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this??? An update two days in a row???? Woah!! This is also (i think) the longest chapter I've posted as of yet, coming in at 9k words :-)

_Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor._

_Reaching for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore._

_And I wonder if I ever cross your mind?_

_For me it happens all the time._

Need You Now – Lady Antebellum

 

“So there’s that… and these, and this… and… I think that’s everything.” Zayn said, pulling all of the items he’d taken from Louis’ room out of a box and setting them back to the bed. His journal was among the items and he’d never been so happy to see it. The only thing missing was his clock.

“The clock?”

“Oh. Right. I’ll go grab that.” Zayn walked from the room and Louis started placing his things back in their spot. A few moments later, Zayn walked back in with a newer looking clock than he’d had before. This one lit up white instead of red. “So, um, I actually broke the other one… on accident… so you can have this one, if you want. It’s just out of one of the other rooms.”

“Sure, yeah. I don’t care about the color.” Zayn smiled and plugged it in, setting the clock on the side table Louis used to have it on. “Thank you, for letting me have my things back. I kind of – didn’t realize how much I really enjoyed them.”

“It wasn’t right of me to take them in the first place.” Louis sighed softly.

“Do you know if Harry is ever going to come back?”

“I don’t know, Louis. He comes and goes as he pleases. He’ll be back one day, and I hope you get to see him again.” Louis just smiled, pretended his heart didn’t feel too heavy in his chest.

“Can I just be alone for a little while?” Zayn frowned just a little. “If not that’s okay – but. I just… wanna think for a while.”

“Yeah – yeah. Sure.” Zayn stood. “You can come in my room if you want, later. We can… listen to music or something.” Another pause. “Liam will be there.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you guys later.” Zayn walked out and as soon as the door was closed behind him, Louis let out a pained noise. It hurt _so_ bad to know Harry had just abandoned him.

He’d given Harry all of his firsts – his first real kiss, his first sexual experience, his first real intense emotion. He brought his knees to his chest and just pulled himself into a smaller size, trying to feel better. All he wanted was to feel better.

He missed Harry.

He grabbed his journal and a pen as he opened the pages. Every shape that came to the page for the next two hours was Harry. He drew Harry’s tie, Harry’s hands, Harry’s eyes. Nothing came to mind except the vampire that he had a terrible feeling would never leave his head.

But by the time he was finished – his hands sore and all of the day’s pages he’d missed filled – he felt better. He much better.

But it still wasn’t enough.

He tore every page out, making sure the seams were neat and nothing was ruined, and stacked every photo in order by date. Then he found the other journals. Starting with his first, adorned with stick figures and attempted sketches, he tore them all out. He took out every page until all he had was the spines of the bound pages and then found his tape. On the wall opposite his bed, he started hanging each page. The top right started with the first years, branching out in one, then two in diagonal, then four, until all three-hundred-fifty pages from that year were full. He got three-hundred-fifty pages per year, which meant he had 3,150 pages – nine years of memories - to fill his walls up.

Some of the pages were splashed with color, most were black and white. But he kept going until one wall was filled. It wasn’t enough space, so he kept going and filled the other wall, going around the windows and leaving his own life covering the room.

It was amazing watching it all spanned out in front of him.

He could see his entire life right in front of him. From the beginning when everything was happy and all he really drew was the best food he’d eaten that day or him and Liam together. Everything was colored with the crayons he’d find inside of the recreation room until the third year. When he’d turned eight, Liam started letting him used colored pencils, once he’d realized that his art was actually pretty decent.

At eleven, he drew the boy he’d fallen in love with. There was only one drawing of him, but it was in vivid color – blue eyes and soft blonde hair drawn with such love that he could still feel all of the emotions he’d felt drawing it just by looking back. There were tear marks staining the page from all of the time’s he’d looked back at him after he’d been taken away. The boy’s scribbled handwriting was at the bottom of the page in big, capital letters. N I A L L.

After that, there weren’t many drawings of people. He drew a lot of _things._ Beds and chairs and plates of food and the flowers he could remember someone bringing in once. Most of it was still in color.

But when he’d turned thirteen, everything went back to black and white. Most of the drawings were just of his friends, none of him. He could remember that year so well, the fear that everyone he cared for in that place would just be taken away from him. He redrew the same portrait of all of the people he cared for once a week. They were all more than willing to sit still and let him draw them each time, but with each one, it still hurt to watch as the numbers dwindled.

He’d started with drawing eleven, and by the tenth week, there had been only three left.

On his birthday that year, he’d drawn himself sitting alone with his little cupcake and the candle that came with it. Liam had a hand on his shoulder in the drawing, but Louis was frowning. He had _14_ _alone_ written in the margins.

Each drawing after that was mostly of Liam or pictures of things Liam would bring to him. There was one picture of something called a _dog_ that Louis still hadn’t seen, but he’d drawn it anyway.

Then, there were the pictures that came with Zayn.

There were dozens of the view outside the window, each season showing a different view. There’d been a few times he’d seen animals emerge from the woods and drawn them, too, but those were the rare changes. He had pictures of Zayn and doodles of Zayn’s tattoos. There was one of both of them together and three of Zayn and Liam together, all in different poses.

He’d never shown either of them the drawings of them. But he was ready to be more open now. He was ready to let himself be open and vulnerable to the world, because that was the only way he’d ever be happy. He could feel it.

Each drawing of Harry he hung up and showed to whoever wanted to walk in his room made him feel so much better. He felt like he had just let everyone know the story of his life – even if it was coded between layers of ink.

There was only one of Lottie, but that was the only one that was drawn in purple and blue instead of realistic skin tones. It drew his eye right to it every time he glanced at that side of the wall and – maybe he’d done that on purpose. Maybe he’d wanted to draw attention to that drawing because he was ready to confront his feelings about it.

He opened the curtains in his room wide, letting the darkness take over and the stars watch over him as he laid down on the bed.

He took a deep breath and then let it out. It felt like all of the tension went away with his exhale. It was comforting to be surrounded by his entire life, to be confronted by everything that he’d experienced.

 

Approaching Zayn’s room made him nervous. He’d yet to have been inside of the vampire’s room, but when he knocked on the door, it didn’t feel wrong. He’d been invited here, he reminded himself. Zayn was going to _allow_ him in his room and it was nerve wracking.

The door opened and – oh. It was Zayn, standing on a staircase. “Hey, yeah. My room’s in the attic, actually. It’s up here, so come on up.” Louis followed behind the vampire, going up the steps to the room.

“Oh. Wow.” He said when he reached the top. Zayn’s room was beautiful. He had a massive bed with a deep red duvet on each side that was matched with the black wood of the bedframe and headboard. There was a microphone tucked in the corner and a piano right beside it, right in front of a wall that was decorated to look like a map. On the map, there were some countries that were colored in with various pins that he assumed were stuck in place for all of the places he’d been in each. Most were in the UK, but there were some that went over into America, too. All of the other walls were an off-white brick.

“Thanks. I’ve spent a long time making it look nice.”

“Hey, Lou.” Liam said with a little smile, coming over and giving him a tight hug. “You okay?”

“Yeah. M’ good.”

“I think you’re in for something special tonight. We’re gonna watch a movie.”

“A movie?”

“Yeah it’s – hard to explain. Just – come chill on the bed with us, kay?” Louis just nodded and followed the both of them to Zayn’s bed, curling up into Liam’s side who was now sandwiched between him and Zayn. It was actually comfortable.

Louis asked more questions about how there were people inside of a box than he’d ever thought he would have, but eventually Liam explained it well enough that his curiosity was settled and he was able to just enjoy the story. He fell asleep leaned against Liam as the sun started to rise.

 

Of course Zayn and Louis didn’t go back to the way they were right away. Louis hadn’t expected them to go right back to the great friendship they’d formed so quickly after there’d been such a huge fallout. Louis was fine with that, honestly. In a way, it was actually kind of nice to be able to get more of Zayn’s attention as the vampire tried to patch up the holes he created.

He knew it could be dangerous to not just give Zayn the immediate affection and acceptance of his apology that he wanted – just because if he didn’t get what he wanted, well, he _did_ own him. It could be a dangerous game if he didn’t play it right.

So when he woke as the sun was setting – the black curtains keeping any light from shining in for what he assumed was for Liam – he stayed. Liam had his arms around Zayn, Zayn’s head on the other vampire’s chest. Louis just sighed softly. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep any longer, but he didn’t mind staying for a little longer, either.

He looked at the big tv thing that was in front of the bed. It had been turned on silent some time during the night, but now there was only the pictures showing on the screen. At that point it was just people talking, so Louis finally stood up and made his way out of the room. It was kind of a shame to think he’d probably never be allowed back into that room, but he’d be okay.

He certainly wasn’t going to let it get to him.

 

“Louis?” Liam asked later that night, making the human look up from the floor. He’d been staring off, lost in his thoughts as he waited for his kettle to come to a boil.

“Are you staying tonight?”

“For now. I got a day off.”

“Cool.” He said with a smile. “Want a cuppa?”

“Sure. Milk and sugar.” Louis rolled his eyes, but poured the water over the bag and added the milk and sugar to his cup, keeping his own to just milk. When it was done, he turned the heat off and brought both cups to the table. “We need to talk.”

“Oh.” He didn’t like those words. They almost always meant something was wrong or bad. He didn’t ever want to hear them.

“It’s just – Zayn thinks he’s making you unhappy. He still feels bad about… everything. So he said he wants you to come stay with me for the next two or three nights, so you and him can both clear your heads.”

“Wait, what?”

“It’s only for a couple nights. Really, don’t worry Lou. He’s not getting rid of you.”

“I –“ He sighed softly, deciding not to respond to it. It wasn’t his choice anyway. He didn’t get choices like where he went or what he wanted to do. But it was really only moments like this where he really resented that reality. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as we finish this and you pack your night bag.” Louis nodded. He was kind of excited to be able to see Liam’s home – just because he’d never seen it before – but he was also sad that he was going to leave the place he called home. He’d gotten used to sleeping here and hearing the creaks and moans that came with this house. Something about leaving made him uncomfortable.

“Okay.” They sat in silence the rest of the time, Louis lost in thought all over again. Once he was done with his tea, he pushed his chair out and rinsed his cup in the sink before sticking it back in the cabinet. “I’ll go… pack, I guess.”

“That’s a good idea.” Liam smiled, but Louis felt nothing. He went to the stairs and looked at all of the pictures lining the hallway. Most of them were of Zayn and Liam, but there were also so many of the three of them or him and Zayn alone together. He wished Harry had never come around – maybe then he and Zayn never would have fought. Things wouldn’t have changed and he _would_ still be happy.

Zayn was standing in the hallway and their eyes met for just a moment. Zayn sucked a lip between his teeth before, “I’m sorry, Lou. But I’ll see you soon. I just – need to think.”

“It’s alright. But – if you do decide you don’t want me anymore – I won’t resent you for it.” He knew that if that came to be Zayn’s decision, he’d be killed. The rejects – they’d always been called. He knew that most of the time they were killed in terribly indecent ways if their owner didn’t just do it, but he wasn’t going to think about that.

“I’m not rejecting you, Louis. I promise.” That made him feel at least a bit better. “See you in a few days.” And then the vampire was gone. Louis thought that he should feel better with the news that Zayn wasn’t going to reject him – but instead he just felt numb.

Nothing changed in his mind.

 

“Well, this is it.” Liam said with a shy smile. It was a cute little place, really. His flat had one bedroom, a kitchen, and a living room. The walls were all white and there wasn’t really any decoration, but Louis already felt like this felt more lived in than Zayn’s house. “I’m at Zayn’s a lot more than I’m not – which, I know you don’t see me, I’m sorry – so this doesn’t seem very … home-y. But this is my flat.”

“It’s nice.” Louis shifted his bag around on his shoulders. “We’re sleeping in the same bed?”

“No, I can take the couch if you want.”

“No… that’s okay. I’d prefer you stayed with me.” Liam just nodded and smiled.

“Okay, Lou.” Louis gave a smile to the vampire who took his bag and set it in his room. When the door to the bedroom opened, a large dog came running out and immediately jumped on top of Louis. “Loki! Down!” Liam said sternly and the dog got off and sat at Louis’ feet.

“You have a dog.” Louis said with a massive smile, petting it’s head.

“Yeah. He’s great.”

“He’s cute.”

“Thanks.”

 

Liam had a television which Louis _really_ never should have touched. He sat down in front of it right after Liam had said something about going and grabbing some food for the both of them for the next few days, and he never really left. There were all kinds of stories and characters and plots that he’d never even known existed! All inside of a little box! It amazed him.

“Alright, Lou. Now you’re going to have to spill. What’s been making you so upset these last few weeks?”

“Harry.”

“I thought you were happy he was gone? I thought you didn’t like him.”

“It’s – I don’t know.” Louis sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I think I’m in love with him.” Liam’s eyebrows shot up, eyes wide.

“You think you’re in love with Harry styles.”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“He’s so – I don’t know. Gentle with me. And even if he was kind of a prick a lot of the time, he also just always seemed to know what I needed and when I needed it. Every time he upset me he made it better. It’s stupid, I know. But I think I really, really love him.” Liam sighed and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Well, in all of my experience of being an old man, there’s only one thing I’ve learned helps with heart ache.”

“Icecream.” They both said at the same time. He could still remember Liam bringing him icecream after Niall had been taken away from him. Liam nodded and went to the kitchen, returning with a big pint of chocolate chip flavored ice cream. If they ate the entire pint while Louis cried and Liam tried to comfort him, no one else needed to know.

 

When he got back to Zayn’s house, things felt better. Zayn gave him a hug when he came back in the door and Louis hugged back without thinking twice about it. He was actually happy to see the vampire. “I’m sorry. For everything.”

“Me too.” Louis said, holding onto Zayn tightly. “Can things go back to normal now?”

“Yeah, of course. Everything is going to be normal again.”

“Okay.”

 

_But I'm only human_

_And I bleed when I fall down_

_I'm only human_

_And I crash and I break down_

_Your words in my head, knives in my heart_

_You build me up and then I fall apart_

_'Cause I'm only human_

Human – Christina Perry.

 

Every day after that, for the next three weeks, Louis hung a new drawing on the wall. Liam and Zayn eventually both saw all of them and smiled a lot at all of the drawings of them together. Zayn had asked to photo copy a few of them and Louis agreed, even if he hadn’t entirely understood what that meant. (He found out later, but, that didn’t bother him much).

Eventually, the drawings stopped being of Harry. They slowly turned into sketches of Liam’s dog or characters he’d seen on the telly or copies of the CD covers he thought were really beautiful.

But, even without Harry around, the days went on. He was slowly getting used to the curly haired vampire not being there.

He’d only slept in Harry’s bed twice, which he actually considered a win. Zayn had quirked an eyebrow each time Louis had asked if he could sleep in the vampire’s room, but eventually let him without another question. He seemed to understand.

After the third week was on the brim of ending, Harry became just a passing thought. He’d think about him sometimes when he saw the green of the leaves on the trees, but he wasn’t always on the front of his mind. That was all that mattered. He would eventually learn to not think about him at all. That was the only hope he could cling to.

 

He stood in the shower for two hours. The warm water in this house was brilliant and lasted for up to three hours, he’d eventually learned, so today was one of the rare days he’d take advantage of the long lasting heat. He washed his entire body, scrubbing the mango scent deep into his skin and washing his hair twice. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to take such a long shower, but something had left him feeling unsettled, so he coped with it that way.

He got out of the warm shower and wrapped a towel around his body, using another to get his hair dry. He looked better. He felt better. The unsettled feeling wasn’t so deep in his bones anymore, and he dried his feet off on the second towel before padding down the hallway to his bedroom.

“I like this.” Harry said, startling Louis. The very, _very_ last thing he’d expected to see when he returned to his room was Harry. _Harry._

“Harry!” He called out, not even ashamed of his enthusiasm. He ran to the vampire and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly. “I thought – I thought you just left and –“

“I know. I came back because I missed you. I could never just – forget about you, Louis. I thought I could but. It doesn’t work that way.” Louis rested his head against Harry’s shoulder. He hadn’t realized exactly how much he’d missed being held by someone until that moment. He really didn’t even care that they only thing wrapped around him was a towel. “Are these your journal entries? The ones you were always so secretive about?”

“Yeah. I kind of – just hung them all up. About a month ago. I still don’t know why, but it felt nice.”

“Will you walk me through it?”

“Will you tell me your secrets if I tell you mine?”

“Deal. But, you first.”

So he told him every single one of the experiences he could still pinpoint with each of the photos. He walked him through every moment of his life that was shown in the photos. When he reached the parts that were about Harry he kind of… stopped. Died down and got shy as the words were stuck in his mouth. Harry just rubbed his back.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anymore, I know the rest.” Louis just smiled a little. “Now you want to know my secrets, huh?” Louis nodded. “Okay, I’ll let you ask nine. One for every year you walked me through.” It seemed fair enough, so Louis nodded again.

“How old are you?”

“I stopped counting after 1,300. But I was born in the Roman empire.”

“Okay. What was your human life like? Before you were changed?”

“It wasn’t terrible.” Harry said with a chuckle. “I was the youngest of seven, but the youngest brother by my only older brother. All the others were girls. We were a noble family, which is really all I remember. I don’t remember what my parents’ jobs were, but we ate every day and never had any problems with money, so I assume it was good. I used to tutor younger kids in reading and writing, because I was one of the only ones who could read and write in my age group. It was – fun. I wasn’t even supposed to know how, actually. But I made friends with the emperors son, that much I can remember, and he taught me. It was very forbidden but neither of us cared.” Louis didn’t ask another question for a few minutes after that, just taking it all in and imagining the image of Harry being alive.

“How were you changed?” It was one question that he knew shouldn’t have ever even left his mouth. He’d always had it drilled in his head to _never never never never_ ask how a vampire had been changed. Some vampires would tell, some wouldn’t. Most of the time it wasn’t a pleasant experience, so it was best to not ask at all. But he was given full permission to ask whatever he wanted. He was going to take advantage of that.

“Can you – not ask that one? That’s – I don’t talk about that.” Harry said, his body tensed. Louis nodded and gave a soft smile. He understood. Even if he’d been given full permission to ask, it didn’t mean Harry _had_ to answer.

“What’s your favorite memory?” He wanted to get rid of the negative thoughts that were surrounding them now with a happy question.

“I think it would have to be the first time a camera was invented. It was – It completely blew my mind to be able to have _me_ embodied on paper. I still actually have that first photo. It’s wrapped up, of course, but it still exists.” Louis was smiling as he watched Harry talk about something so simple but so nice. Maybe one day he’d be able to see the things that Harry loved so much.

“Are there any vampires older than you?”

“No.” He wasn’t going to press that one, not since Harry had said he didn’t want to talk about how he’d been changed.

“How’d you meet Zayn?”

“He was my best friend. I don’t really remember how we met – I wish I did. He probably does. But then he got – we were in London and he got really, really sick. I guess it’s called the plague, now, but he was going to die. I wasn’t really ready to lose him, though. So I asked if I could change him and he – let me.”

“What’s it like being a vampire?”

“I don’t really remember enough about what it felt like to be human to tell you the difference.”

“Why did you come back for me?” That was his last question and it was just barely a whisper as he met Harry’s gaze. Harry smiled softly and ran his hands through Louis’ hair.

“You’re in my head, Louis. Something about you just drives me – _crazy._ I don’t understand it because no one’s ever made me feel this way. You get these ideas in my head that are completely irrational, but here I am. I care about you, deeply, and even being away from you for a month I still thought about you every day. I thought maybe I could leave, but then coming back here and seeing all of this it – I realized that I’m not the only one who was affected by you coming into my life. You were too and I care too much about you to make you suffer my dislike of being in one place for too long.”

“Are you going to stay?” Harry hesitated.

“We’ve been talking for a while. The suns all the way up now. We should sleep.” Louis didn’t dwell on the fact that Harry hadn’t answered. Maybe he just didn’t know yet. But Louis wasn’t going to take a single second of having him back for granted.

“Okay. Carry me to your room, please?”

“Only if you stay naked.”

“Deal.”

 

They laid in Harry’s bed together and Louis really didn’t want to think about Harry leaving again. He didn’t. He wasn’t ready to think about how he’d have to get unattached all over again. If Harry left this time – he wasn’t sure he’d be entirely prepared to handle it all over again. So he just needed to talk about it. He needed to ask if he was just going to be left and forgotten all over again.

“Are you going to leave me again, Harry?” He wasn’t going to let the vampire off the hook of answering. He didn’t want to be left in the dark.

“I can’t answer that right now, Louis. I’m sorry. I wish I could.”

“I can’t get attached to you again if you’re going to leave.” Louis said with a frown, climbing on top of the vampire. He was shameless at this point – shameless as he straddled the vampire even if he was mostly naked. The towel had fallen to just cover his crotch-area and upper thighs. “You hurt me very bad, Harry. It hurt so badly to have you just leave me and not even try to contact me. I can’t let you do that to me again – I just can’t.”

“I’ll have an answer for you soon, Lou. I promise. Soon. Just let us both have this night, even if I can’t answer you that question.”

“Okay. But only one night.” Louis crawled under the blankets after crawling off of the vampire. He smiled when Harry’s arms went around his waist and for the first time in much too long, fell asleep without thinking about anything sad.

 

Louis woke later in the night to find Harry watching him. He’d had a nice dream that Harry had promised he’d never leave and they could be happy – but he wasn’t expecting that to happen. He wasn’t going to keep his hopes up for that to happen. “Time s’it?” He asked with a yawn.

“Just a little past three pm.”

“It’s early. Why’re you up?”

“You’re really pretty when you sleep.” Louis smiled.

“Cuddle me?”

“Anything you want.” Harry said and laid back again, letting Louis climb back on top of him. Their chests were together, skin against skin. Louis couldn’t remember Harry taking his clothes off, but he felt his boxers keeping their dicks from rubbing together, so he wasn’t worried about it. The vampire’s arms went around him all over again and little kisses were placed on his shoulder, lulling him back into a deep and happy sleep.

 

He woke at a reasonable time the next time. Harry was still asleep beneath him, the only change being that one of his hands had fallen back to the bed while the other was still on the small of his back. He had a fleeting thought, then, to give Harry a reason to want to stay. To give him a reason to want to have Louis in his bed every morning. But he knew that if they started doing anything sexual, if Harry touched him again, he’d get attached more quickly than he already was. Getting attached would only lead to heart ache.

He got Harry’s arm off of him and climbed out of bed. He still put Harry’s shirt on, but he went back to his room to get his own boxers and sweats. He wasn’t sure what was going on in his own head.

“How come you’re wearing Harry’s clothes?” Zayn asked with a quirked eyebrow when he got to the bottom of the stairs to make his signature morning tea.

“Did you not talk to him? He came home last night… Um… He’s sleeping right now.” Zayn’s eyebrows furrowed.

“No, I didn’t.” The vampire stood from where he’d been sitting on the couch. “I’m gonna go talk to him now, though.”

“Kay. You want eggs?”

“Sure. Harry and I will be down soon.” He pulled out a pan and started cooking, immersing himself into a mindless task to try and not think. Upstairs was entirely silent, and Louis wasn’t sure if that put him at ease or if it made him even more nervous. He ended up making pancakes and hashbrowns, too, in the time before the two vampires came downstairs. It was all to keep himself from thinking, but he was also proud of himself.

“I made a lot. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. We haven’t had a big meal in a while, nothing wrong with it.” Louis smiled and took the plates filled with various foods to the dining room table. Harry kept staring at him. Louis knew it was normal of Harry to do, so it didn’t make him uncomfortable anymore. Something about Harry’s hard stares and calculated glances just made him feel at ease, like he was being cared for.

They all sat down, Louis pouring everyone tea as well before he took his own seat. The beginning of their meal was silence, which Louis was used to. He didn’t feel the need to chime in and ask questions or try and pry to see what they’d spoken about. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t his business.

“Louis.” Harry said after a few minutes. He glanced up. “I have… a proposal for you. Zayn and I already talked about this so, if you agree… It’s what’s going to happen.” He furrowed his eyebrows but nodded. He wasn’t sure he liked how this sounded. “Okay. Well, I know you don’t want me to leave. Zayn told me that you feel strongly for me –“

“Which Liam told me, sorry babe.” Zayn cut in after that.

“ – and it makes me feel even worse that I’ve hurt you.” Harry paused, took in Louis reaction. He was nervous, every nerve ending in his body suddenly buzzing. “But I can’t stay here. I have a lot of people that often need to see me and most of my days are spent travelling. I can take a few months off a year, but other than that, I’m pretty much always moving.” Louis’ shoulders slumped. This was it. This was his rejection. “So, if you’re willing, I’d like you to come with me.”

He choked.

What?

_What?_

That was not what he expected.

Both Harry and Zayn’s eyes were on him, staring and waiting for the answer. He didn’t – he didn’t _know._ That was the only problem. He wanted to go with Harry – of course he did. But he didn’t want to leave Zayn and the life he’d slowly managed to get comfortable living in. He wasn’t ready to throw everything he’d learned to love away for something that potentially could make him miserable.

“I’m due in Canada in the morning, Lou. So you have a few hours to think it over… But I do need to know soon.” Harry finished his breakfast and the rest of the morning was silent. Louis didn’t eat anything more, just stared down at the floor as he thought it through. Eventually, Harry did all of the dishes and left him and Zayn alone.

As soon as the eldest vampire was out of the room, Louis broke down.

He cried harder than he had in a long while.

Zayn took him into a hug, but Louis couldn’t breathe. Air wouldn’t come into his lungs and he felt like the entire world was going to fall on top of him and crush him. Zayn was tense as he carried Louis over to the couch and set him down, sitting beside him and keeping an arm around him.

“Liam?” He heard after a moment. Zayn was on the phone. “Liam I – don’t know what to do. Louis is freaking out.” Silence. Silence. Silence. “Okay. Hurry, please.” Then the phone was gone.

Louis tried to relax under the feeling of Zayn’s fingers running through his hair, but he still couldn’t manage to take a deep breath. He couldn’t feel his fingers or his toes or anything and it was just – it was overwhelming.

He wasn’t sure how long it was until Liam was holding his hands and whispering in his ear. “You’re gonna be okay, Lou. I’m gonna calm you down, okay?” And then there was a tiny pinch against his wrist and everything suddenly felt better.

He gasped when he finally could breathe.

“What was that?” He asked, wide-eyed to Liam.

“You probably don’t remember, since I haven’t had to do that since you were really, really little. But it’s just a little nip. The … stuff, that comes out of us when we bite you… I don’t know what it’s called … is basically a calming, feel good drug for humans. I’ve only ever done it when you panicked.” Louis’ head wasn’t entirely clear enough to absorb all of that information, but he could remember a few other times when Liam had nipped his wrist.

“Thank you.”

“Now what’s wrong? What happened?”

“Harry wants me to go with him. He – said he came back for me.”

“Why’d that make you panic, babe?” Liam didn’t sound like he was judging. It just sounded like a question and for that Louis was greatful.

“Because it’s scary – the idea of going out and living in a world I’ve never seen before. I don’t want to leave you guys. I don’t want to leave my family and any chance of ever seeing any of them again. I’m not ready to give up everything I’ve ever known. But I also don’t want to live without Harry. I don’t know what I want.” He was crying again. This time it wasn’t panic, but he was crying and Liam and Zayn both hugged him tightly.

“I felt the same when Zee changed me.” Liam admitted. “I was going to have to leave my home, my family, my friends – everyone I’d ever had. For someone I loved.” Louis sniffled. “I was scared, too, but I’m glad I did it.”

“It’s different, cause you’re a vampire.”

“Well, I wasn’t when I came here.” Louis’ eyebrows furrowed at that.

“I was only sixteen when Zayn found me. Or, I guess when I forced my way into Zayn’s life.” Liam said with a little laugh. “We waited until I was nineteen for him to change me.”

“Are you glad you went with him?”

“Of course. I mean, I can’t say I wouldn’t change my mind if I went back, because maybe my life could have gone somewhere different, but yes. I was and still am very happy.”

“Should I go?”

“Only you can make that decision, love.” He nodded.

“I should talk to Harry.”

“Yeah. You should. Go on.” He nodded and went away from the two vampires, climbing the stairs and going into Harry’s room.

He was playing his guitar, sat on a couch that was against the wall opposite the bed as he picked at the strings. It wasn’t a song Louis recognized, but he watched as he played, mesmerized by the movement of his fingers.

_Down to Earth / Keep on falling when I know it hurts_

_Going faster than a million miles an hour / Trying to catch my breath some way, somehow_

He knew Harry knew he was there. Green eyes met his own just for a moment, but he didn’t stop.

_Down to Earth_

_It's like I'm frozen, but the world still turns / Stuck in motion, and the wheels keep spinning 'round_

_Moving in reverse with no way out / And now I'm one step closer to being two steps far from you_

_When everybody wants you /Everybody wants you_

The music stopped and Harry patted the spot beside him. Louis went and sat beside the vampire, legs crossed as he sat sideways on the furniture to watch him play.

_How many nights does it take to count the stars?_

_That's the time it would take to fix my heart / Oh, baby, I was there for you_

_All I ever wanted was the truth, yeah, yeah / How many nights have you wished someone would stay?_

_Lie awake only hoping they're OK / I never counted all of mine_

_If I tried, I know it would feel like infinity / Infinity, infinity, yeah_

_Infinity_

“I’ll go with you.” Was all Louis said. Harry set the guitar down and pulled Louis into a tight hug, keeping him on his lap with his arms wrapped around him. “That was really pretty.”

“It was about you.” Louis couldn’t help but smile. “We’re going to have to talk about some things for when we leave, though. It’s a lot to take in and I don’t expect you to follow all of it right away, but you need to know.”

“Okay.” So Harry talked. He spoke about all of the places he’d been and all of the experiences he hoped he could share with Louis. Louis listened, anger bubbling in his chest at some parts, but affection and love coming to the surface at others.

Harry said he’d be dealing with a lot of traditional vampires who’d expect a human to act a certain way, but Louis didn’t mind because there were others who would be happy to see that he was able to act how he wanted and allowed to live freely.

“Who are you, Harry?” He asked after a long while, after Harry explained some of the things he’d need to learn about behaving. Most of it was the things he’d learned in the facility, anyway.

“A leader. The leader, I suppose, of the entire existence of vampires.”

“ _What?”_

“Vampires tend to respect age. So, being the oldest, I got put in a position I never really expected to have.”

“What do you do?”

“Keep vampires in line. Prevent mass killings. Approve or deny changes.”

“So you travel the world to do that?”

“Yeah. It’s – hard. But it’s really amazing to see everything I’ve ever wanted to see.”

Louis blinked a few times, unsure of what he was getting himself in to. He was going to explore the world with Harry – and he knew it was going to be incredibly hard with being a human. There were some countries where humans were still dominant, or at least he’d read, but there were other countries where vampires had taken the rule entirely.

England was a good example of the ladder.

Canada was still mostly human ruled, Harry had claimed. He’d explained that that was the reason he came back here now instead of earlier, because they were both going to be able to go to a place where human existence was still protected and cherished.

“You’re sure you want this?”

“Yes.” Louis said with a nod. “I want to be with you.”

“Okay.”

“Now, can you just kiss me already?” Harry chuckled and pushed Louis back against the couch, kissing him hard. It was a fast kiss, a hot mesh of their lips that Louis knew would end up with both of them naked. He didn’t mind. “Harry?” He asked, pulling away for just a moment.

“Yeah?”

“Will you … can we go all the way? I want – I want to be as close to you as I can.” Harry smiled as he ran the back of his hand down Louis’ cheek and placed a little kiss on the tip of his nose.

“It’s your first time, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad you’re trusting me with this. Of course. If you get uncomfortable any time, just tell me and I’ll stop. Kay?”

“Kay.” Harry climbed off of him, standing above him before he was taken into his arms by the backs of his thighs. He wrapped his arms around the vampire’s neck, but he had other ideas, too. He sucked little marks into Harry’s jawline, fueled on by the groan the vampire let out. He was happy to know that something that made Louis feel good made the vampire feel good, too, so he didn’t stop. He nipped and sucked little marks all over Harry’s neck until he was being set down on the bed.

Harry’s eyes were blown wide and it made Louis’ stomach twist in excitement.

“Fiesty human.”

“That I am.” He said with a grin, sticking his tongue out.  Harry kissed him again, taking the oprotunity of Louis with his tongue already out to suck on it as his hands made their way beneath his shirt, fingers tweaking at his nipples. He groaned into the kiss and Harry took his wrists and pinned them above his head.

He wasn’t sure why that made him even more excited, but it definitely did.

“Gonna get these clothes off of you now.” Harry said with a smile and tugged Louis’ shirt off. He didn’t waste a moment before he was touching every spanse of the now exposed skin. Louis preened under the touch, loved the feeling of Harry’s full attention being on _him._ “You’re so – beautiful. You know that? You know how much you drive me crazy?” Louis blushed, but reached to undo the buttons on Harry’s shirt. It was easy, really. Harry never buttoned it all the way up anyway, always left the first three or four undone to show off the butterfly on his chest. It drove Louis wild.

Louis didn’t really talk a whole lot when Harry was touching him, but Harry never seemed to mind. He had enough to say to cover for both of them.

“Can’t wait to fuck you, Lou. Gonna make you feel so good. Gonna make you so happy you’re letting me be your first.” Harry’s shirt fell away from his shoulders when the vampire shrugged them off. Then he peeled Louis’ sweats off, tugging them away along with his boxers in one fluid pull. Once he was naked, Harry kissed him again, pulling his wrists back to be above his head.

Louis really loved being naked in front of Harry. He loved how Harry’s eyes would wonder every inch of his skin and make him feel like he was the most beautiful thing on the planet.

“It’s ‘cause you are.” Harry said with a wink. “You are the most beautiful thing on the planet.” Louis blushed again. “I’ll be right back, okay? Don’t touch yourself. I want to do all of that.” Louis couldn’t imagine where he’d possibly need to go – but he wasn’t going to question it.

“Jerk.” Harry shot him a wink, but Louis kept his hands above his head where Harry had left them.

He was completely hard, cock resting against his stomach and turning slightly red at the tip. His feet were still sock-clad and it made him laugh just a little that Harry decided to leave those on of all things. He reached down and took the material away from his feet, tossing them into the pile of the rest of his clothes and returned his hands to where they had been before.

Harry came back just a moment later with a little bottle in his hand. “This will make it a little easier, kay?” Louis nodded. He trusted Harry. The vampire spread the liquid from the bottle over his fingers and kissed Louis’ kneecap. “Spread your legs for me and bring them to your chest. I want you on your back so I can see you.”

Louis blushed again but did as he was told, putting his arms underneath his knees to keep his legs in place. Then – _oh._ Harry’s fingertip was circling around his entrance, warm and wet and it already felt incredible. He was breathing hard, breath caught in his throat as one finger pushed inside. It was slow, the burn making him whine slightly in pain, but Harry took it slower when he made a displeased noise.

“It’ll be okay. Touch yourself while I do this, okay?” Louis nodded, taking one hand from above his head and wrapped it around his cock. He moved his hand quickly, the pleasure quickly outweighing the pain as Harry pushed his finger all the way inside. “Good boy, you’re so good for me. Look so hot like that, too.” Louis blushed at the words again, but it made his cock twitch in his hand. “You like being told you’re good, hm?” Harry asked and Louis bit his lip.

“Stop – teasing me.” He breathed out and Harry hooked his finger inside of him. Louis jerked with a shout. “Oh, God. What was _that?”_

“Feels good, hm? I think I might make you come like that. Before I fuck you.” Harry kept his finger pressed against that spot inside of Louis, wiggling the digit in cirlces that made Louis see spots. His hand was still, just barely holding on to his cock. He was overwhelmed, couldn’t do anything but focus on the pleasure coming from Harry’s _finger._

“Harry – Harry I – Feels good.” His legs were trembling. He felt another finger pressing against his entrance, and soon there were two fingers rubbing quickly against the spot in front of him and he was going to come. He could feel it already. His whines were almost constant at that point, high and needy in the back of his throat.

“One more finger, then you can come. Okay?” Louis had to process the words for a long moment, but when they finally made sense inside of his head he nodded. Harry kissed his knee cap again, a gesture that Louis knew meant he was okay. It grounded him and made him relax, even as there was a slight pain from the stretch of another finger being pressed inside of him.

Harry took the head of his cock inside of his mouth, then, suddenly and Louis lost it. With the feeling of Harry’s mouth on him and three fingers pressing against his spot – he came so hard he saw white. He could hear a shout in the room and of course he knew it was him – _but_ he didn’t want to admit that.

 

His entire body felt limp. His breathing was fast and heavy, but Harry pulled his fingers away and kissed his forehead, then his shoulder, then his knee all over again before going to the bathroom. A moment later, he returned with a wet washcloth and cleaned Louis up.

They made out lazily for a while after that, Louis keeping his fingers tangled in Harry’s hair as Harry waited for his body to adjust. He didn’t want to be too sensitive for something that he knew was going to be special to him.

It was about twenty minutes later when Louis was whining again under Harry’s touch. His cock was taking interest in the way Harry was touching him and – yeah. He was so ready for Harry to be inside of him.

Harry took his time in prepping him again, pressing three fingers back inside of him and scissoring them slightly, even though he avoided his spot. “I’m just stretching you out a little bit this time, okay? Just so it feels better.” Louis understood. His fingers weren’t going to make him come this time. His cock was.

Just a few minutes later, Harry was pushing inside of him as they kissed again. “Tell me when I can move, love. Give yourself time to adjust.” Louis had his eyes shut, mouth hung open. It didn’t hurt terribly. Just a slight burn that he couldn’t really compare to anything else.

But it faded.

“Okay – Okay. I’m good. Go ahead.” Harry didn’t waste a single moment after that, just pulled his hips back and slammed forward, pulling a moan from Louis’ throat. It was hot and fast and _perfect._ Louis wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Harry moved his hands back above his head and kissed at his neck. Then the door opened and Louis’ eyes went wide.

“Hey, guys. Sorry to interrupt, but Liam and I are going to get something nice for dinner to celebrate Lou’s last day here, then. We’ll be back in an hour or two.”

“Okay.” Harry said, but Louis was blushing furiously. The door closed behind Zayn and Harry kissed Louis’ shoulder. “I take it you’re not one for exhibitionism, then?”

“ _God,_ Harry, your dick is literally up my arse. Can we not talk about this right now – _ah.”_ Harry wasted no time in pulling back and slamming their hips back together.

“Gonna make you come without touching, kay?”

“Yeah – yeah. Okay.” Louis said, breathless. Then, Harry gave a particularly hard thrust _right_ against his spot and Louis came with another cry. Harry kept his hips moving through his orgasm, and then Harry came inside of him and Louis just smiled up at the vampire.

There was silence between them as they both caught their breath. Harry kissed him softly, then, and cleaned him back up with the same cloth as before after he pulled out.

“You make me happy.” Louis said and cuddled up with Harry.

“You make me happy, too.” Harry responded and kissed him on the top of his head.

 

They were on a plane by the time the sun rose. Harry ended up giving Louis a little blue pill to take when he felt him panicking again at the thought of being off the ground. Louis took it and ended up falling asleep within a half an hour.

When he woke, they were still in the air. Harry was watching a movie on the screen attached to the back of the seat right in front of him and he offered Louis one of his ear buds so they could watch it together. “I’m kind of hungry.” He said after the movie ended.

“Okay. I’ll get you something. Tea to drink?”

“Please.” Harry told a woman in a hat and neat skirt suit that they both wanted menus and tea with milk. She brought the menus with their tea, but Louis let Harry order for him. “Surprise me. I’m willing to try anything.” He said with a smile and Harry told the woman what they both were going to get.

Harry didn’t let him down when he got a pretty serving of Shepard’s pie and a cookie for dessert. He ended up falling asleep for the last three hours of the flight while Harry played with his hair.

 

“It’s so – cold.” Louis said with a shiver. Harry had bought him a big, heavy jacket from the airport as soon as they’d landed, but he was still freezing.

“That’s because you’re wearing slippers, love. Your feet were too small for any of their boots.”

“I know.”

“We’ll be in a warm car soon enough.” Louis nodded and kissed Harry’s hand. He ignored all of the looks they got from passerbys who he assumed recognized Harry. Harry’d warned him that the two of them would likely get a few odd looks.

“So for tonight we’re going to stay in a hotel. You should stay tonight while I deal with something kind of… un-fun. But I’ll be back before long, I promise.”

“Can I just go with you, please?” Harry looked down at him with a fond smile. “I slept for so long on that flight that I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep anymore.”

“I guess. But you need to listen to everything I tell you, okay.” Louis nodded. He was fairly happy with his decision to go with Harry still, and he felt the sudden need to thank Liam. Everything was going to be great. He could already feel it.

Harry’s driver – _driver,_ Louis scoffed – took them to a hotel nearby where they checked in to a room Harry must have booked long before they arrived. The room was nice, but Louis didn’t bother unpacking. They’d be settling in in Harry’s home in some place called Toronto tomorrow.

“Okay, ready?”

“Ready.” Louis was happy to see how many humans there were all over the streets. At night! He’d always heard that humans would be killed in a heartbeat if they were found on the street alone by themselves. But it seemed that that was only in England. “So, like I said, most of this country is pretty… Human friendly. There isn’t anything you should really be afraid of. But for right now, I’m investigating a rumor of a human trade unit…” Louis quirked an eyebrow. Weren’t those normal? “an illegal one.” He elaborated and Louis understood.

“Ah, Mr.Styles! Welcome, welcome. Please come in.” Someone at the door greeted. “Hello.” He said down to Louis.

“Hello.” Harry said calmly, taking Louis’ hand as they walked inside. He knelt down to Louis. “keep your eyes closed for me, okay? I don’t know what we’re going to see here and I don’t want you to see anything bad.”

“Kay.” Louis said and closed his eyes. He followed Harry’s pull on his hand as he followed blindly.

“Harry!” He heard someone call out. “Are you trading this one in, too?” Louis opened his eyes instinctually at those words.

“Louis, close your eyes!” He heard Harry call out, but it was too late.

Everything around him made him feel sick.

The fact that these people knew Harry made him feel sick.

He knelt over and threw up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops.


	6. VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shock. Relief. Fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly... shamelessly self indulgent?

_We can fight the dark_   
_This is who we are_   
_There's a new light coming_   
_Finally had enough_   
_Finally waking up_

Open Your Eyes - Bea Miller

 

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and tried to ignore all of the eyes that were on him. Every vampire seemed to have their eyes on him with a mixture of looks of disgust and scorn. He was dizzy. This was the kind of place fresh out of his worst nightmares.

_Six._

There were six dead bodies on the floor right in front of him. Each body had been tossed to the floor so carelessly – as if they had never even been living, breathing humans. It looked like they’d been tossed to the side like _dolls._

They were all pale in the way that Louis could only recognize as being drained by a vampire – the too-white complexion standing out even in the dimply lit room. He’d only seen it one other time, when they’d been forced to watch videos of how to identify it and when to immediately leave a situation if possible.

The reality, it turns out, is much worse than the videos.

There were voices all around him. He could hear the sound of Harry’s voice, but nothing would register aside from his surroundings. There was a ringing in his ears that was preventing him from hearing anything – from seeing anything except for the death surrounding him. Harry had two hands on his hips and pulled him closer, he could feel the movement, could feel the possessive touches on his body, but nothing would register.

They were all _dead._ Six. Their lips were all blue tinged and two of them had their eyes still wide open. They’d all obviously been awake when they were killed and – Louis’ heart ached. They’d had to go through the pain of being _aware_ they were about to be killed.

There were four girls and two boys – but none of them looked a day over fifteen. One of the girls still had boy-like features, like she hadn’t even made it through puberty yet. They were _children._ All of these kid’s lives had been cut too short and in such a cruel way Louis couldn’t even fathom.

He couldn’t breathe.

There were other humans there, too, all strapped up in handcuffs with covers over their eyes and – Louis wanted to scream. He wanted to scream at Harry and ask why he was just _standing_ there and not doing anything about this! He wanted to run away and never look back. _This_ was the illegal human trade. He’d heard rumors that these were bad – but he’d never imagined it to be _this_ bad. He couldn’t even imagine a vampire being able to do this to a person – he knew vampires had a conscious. Whether or not they were in tune with it was another story, but he knew they _had_ one. It didn’t seem right that anyone could ever do something like this.

He wished there was something he could do to stop it – to save these lives.

But there was one thing that kept him frozen in place with fear.

_Are you trading this one, too?_

The ringing in his ears got louder and Harry turned him to face him, green eyes staring right into his with a look of concern. Louis blinked a few times, but his thoughts were still racing. He was so afraid.

Had Harry brought him here with the intention of leaving him? Had he planned this all along? To get Louis’ attention and affection only to manipulate it so he wouldn’t be in his way of being with Zayn anymore? It would make sense. He’d said it himself, after all – he and Zayn’s arguments were all about _him._

Harry’s hand tightened around his own, as if sensing the fact that he was considering fleeing and it made him feel ill again. Every pair of non-human eyes were on him, and he flinched as Harry pulled him even closer to him. Time felt slower when he was about to panic.

The ringing subsided when he heard two words that made his knees go weak.

“I am.” Harry said and Louis stared at him with wide eyes. His lungs wouldn’t take in a full breath of air and had Harry not been holding him so closely, he would have fallen over. “How about you and I go in the back and handle this, then?”

“Oh, Harry. So glad to hear you haven’t changed in the few centuries you’ve been gone. Let’s go. You can leave him with that one.” The vampire said, motioning to another.

“No, he’ll stay with me until the cash is in my hand.” The vampire nodded and Harry pulled him along. Louis tried to pull away, his entire body weight fighting against Harry at that point. He was going to run – he was going to get out and find _some_ way to call Zayn. He needed to get out of there and he needed to get out _fast._ This was not how he imagined his life to end. He didn’t imagine his life meant so little to Harry that he was worth a little money. But of course that’s how it was. He should have known from the beginning.

A door clicked shut behind him, followed by the sound of a lock. There were tears in his eyes and he blinked fast to try and get them to go away. If he was going to die, be turned over by Harry’s hand to his fate, he wasn’t going to look like a coward as he went.

Harry released his hand from the tight grip, but his fingers went around his wrist and gave a gentle squeeze. Something that was meant to be reassuring but – Louis wasn’t reassured. He just felt sick all the same.

“Well, Damon.” Harry said, not taking the seat He was offered by a motion from the other vampire. “I believe I told you you had ten years to put an end to this. Did I not?” The other vampire’s eyebrows furrowed. Louis was confused. An end to this trade? Wasn’t Harry just about to trade him in?

“I thought you were here to trade him in.” The vampire – Damon – said, defensive tone clear in his voice as he voiced Louis’ same question.  

“Oh, no. This is Louis, he’s very much mine and will continue to be. But you, however, aren’t going to be so luckly.” The relief that poured over Louis’ body was incredible. He wasn’t sure he’d ever felt two strong, conflicting emotions in such a short time before. Harry turned to him and gave a soft, genuine smile. He wasn’t getting traded in – he wasn’t going to die!

“Harry – listen. We – we were gonna end it! We were but, the humans sell themselves into it! It’s not like we’re abducting them.” The vampire laughed nervously.

“Those were kids! Kids don’t have the right –“

“Lou, it’s okay. I know.” Harry said and Louis shut up. He was too angry to keep quiet, but he knew he wasn’t helping Harry. Harry didn’t need his help. “Perhaps not.” Harry said, as if contemplating what the other vampire said. But Louis had heard that tone of voice before. “But you _are_ breaking three of my _clearly_ defined laws and regulations here. One, killing humans. Two, killing _minors._ Three, running an operation that promotes the murder of humans. Four, running an operation that promotes sexual exploitation of minors. Which – you can’t deny because I saw what those girls were wearing.” The other vampire’s face paled. Louis felt a surge of happiness rush through him as Harry spoke. He’d never known these laws existed, but hearing that they did, hearing that Harry had such intent to keep humans safe from vampires made him so happy. He’d never known Harry even made the laws, but he’d known Harry had say. This was different.

He thought back to how Harry had first seen him. He was cruel – but nothing he said exploited him. He didn’t really look like a child anymore, hadn’t since he was younger than seventeen. So it was clear that Harry had followed his own rules all along. They kept the wellbeing of humans safe, even if they didn’t protect humans from _all_ vampire cruelty. He was grateful for that, still. It was a relief to hear.

He tuned back in to listen to what Harry was saying, even if he was sure he’d missed some of it while he was lost in his thoughts. “So, since you wouldn’t shut it down without help, now I will. Give me the names of who’s helping you run it or I’ll make it much worse for you.” The vampire sputtered out about three other names, face still pale with fear written right across it.

Harry went over to the other vampire and took him by the scruff of his neck. “Lou, come with me, please? Just follow right behind us.” Louis nodded, still a bit taken aback by the fast moving events that were unfolding in front of him.

They went out of the room and Louis was nervous all over again.

“Alright everyone. Damon here, as you all know, has a pretty illegal business running here.” Harry said in a casual tone, shoving the smaller vampire to his knees. “I know who is helping him, since he gave me names, so if you’re one of those people, come on up. If you run off, I’ll have you found. So you may as well make it easier on yourself.” Two of three walked up with slow, hesitant steps. Harry motioned for them to get on their knees, too. Both of them listened. “So, is Joseph Ringer not present tonight? Anyone willing to point him out for me?” A muttered _fuck_ came from the group standing on the left before someone else stepped forward. Harry shot the vampire a pointed look before motioning for him to join the others. “Everyone else, _get out._ I suspect you’ve all learned a lesson of what happens when you break my laws.”

The room was cleared in just a few seconds, dozens of bodies flying out of the room at speeds faster than Louis could manage to focus on.

“Damon, give me your keys.” Harry said and Damon passed over a keyring filled with keys.

“Harry?” Louis said, voice small.

“Hm?” Harry said, pointed look changing to a look of soft fondness that he was used to getting from Harry. The change was staggering and through Louis back just a bit, but he was okay after a moment.

“Can I let them out? I want – I want to help.” Harry gave a little smile and handed him the keys.

“Let them out and take them all back into that room. I don’t want you to see this part.” Louis didn’t really like the sound of that, but he wasn’t going to say no. He’d learned his lesson about trusting Harry when he said he should leave or not see something.

So he went over to the first of fifteen of the kids that were chained up. The first one was a girl – perhaps a bit younger than him – and she was crying. “Hi.” He said, taking her blindfold off. “I’m Louis. I’m gonna get you out of there, okay?”

“You – you are?” She said, the tears not coming out as quickly. Louis nodded and undid the handcuffs on her wrists, then her legs. There were deep welts where the metal had been digging into her skin and it made Louis wince. He didn’t want to think about how long this girl had been here, waiting to die, for those wounds to get that deep.

“Here, come with me okay? You’re gonna be free really soon, but I want to get everyone else out too.” She nodded as Louis took her into the little room he’d been in moments before.

Each of the others were just about the same. The youngest was a boy that only held up six fingers when Louis asked him how old he was. His heart dropped and he wanted to throw up again, but he didn’t. He got every single one of the people out of those chains and took them all to the office. Harry was talking in his low, scary voice and Louis was tuning it out. He didn’t want to hear it.

When the door clicked, though, it was silent. He was in a room with fifteen kids who had all been just days from death.

“Are you a human?” One of them asked.

“Yes.” Louis said with a little smile.

“Why was the tall vampire being nice to you?” She asked with a genuinely confused expression.

“He’s… we’re close. He’s good to me.” She just nodded. “We came here to get you all out. Do all of you have a place to go out of here?” That broke a few smiles from some of the younger kids, but there was one who wouldn’t respond, wouldn’t even look at him. Louis didn’t want to pressure him.

 

Harry came in a short while later.

“Okay. We’re going to get all of you home, alright? You’re all free from this place from here on out, I promise.” Harry looked over to Louis and took his wrist in his hand again, squeezing softly in that same reassuring grip he’d given him earlier. It felt weird that he’d even doubted Harry in the first place. It seemed so unnecessary now that he was able to look back on it, but he was happy he had. Maybe his fear made everything seem a little more legitimate.

By the nights end, all of the kids were returned safely back to their homes and Louis had never felt better. His nerve endings felt like they were buzzing from the excitement – from the joy of having done something so good. He felt like he was actually going to be able to make a change in the world if he could keep staying with Harry and helping him help others. One day maybe he would be able to make a difference on his own, but for now, he was more than content with being able to do so with Harry.

“You do this all the time?” He asked to the vampire after a long stretch of silence, filled with driving. They’d been on the road several hours, the last child having been taken from a providence in Canada that was very far from where she’d been brought to.

“Yeah. I mean, not that specifically. But I keep vampires in line and make sure they’re following the laws. They’re there for a reason, you know? So I don’t want any of them being broken.”

“That’s – really good. I’m glad you care enough to actually stop them from doing bad things.”

“Of course I care. I care about everyone – even if it’s a lot to handle sometimes.”

“What did you do to those three vampires?” Harry shook his head.

“The punishments aren’t pretty. I don’t think you want to hear about that.”

“Okay, fair enough.” He smiled at the curly haired vampire. He loved watching him drive – especially when he was focused and intent. It was one of the many beautiful sides of Harry. Louis was almost overwhelmed with all of the sides of Harry that seemed to keep coming to light the more time he spent with him.

He was beginning to develop strong feelings for this vampire – and he knew that was dangerous. He knew it was beyond dangerous to have strong feelings for a creature who had openly discussed how much he was aware of how temporary Louis’ existence would be.  
But he couldn’t really stop himself.

He cared so much for Harry that it made his chest ache sometimes when he thought about it. Every time he’d see a stray curl fall in front of his eyes, he’d want to move it to the side. Every time he went to tie his tie, Louis wanted to do it for him. He wanted to do little things like that that are so domestic and home-like – but he wanted everything with Harry. He wanted to experience everything life had to offer with Harry and he’d never really felt like that with anyone else before.

It was a terrifying but also freeing thought to know that he could possibly one day have that oprotunity with _his_ curly haired vampire, but it was scary to think that Harry might avoid that choice just because Louis’ life had an expiration date.

Things like that he liked to think about. He liked to think about how Harry’s head might work if he ever tried to voice how he felt. But he wasn’t sure he would voice how he felt, so he liked to keep quiet.

When Harry turned the radio on to a song Louis recognized, he sang along and pretended his heart didn’t feel like it was melting when Harry gave him one of those signature smiles that made the sides of his eyes crinkle.

 

Before long, the car came to a stop in an empty spot right in the front.

They walked into the hotel together once again, Louis with his hand tangled with Harry’s. His back hurt for some reason, but it was all okay. He assumed it was from being seated for so long in the plane and then being seated for even longer in the car, all without much movement.

But really, he felt like he was floating – high on the fact that he’d just done something so good for so many people. It still wouldn’t get out of his head.

As they walked, he made eye contact with the boy across the counter and came to a complete stop. His feet slipped on the prociline tile beneath his feet and Harry had to catch him for the second time that night. “ _Niall?”_   He asked, voice frantic. The boy’s mouth was open, and he came closer to Louis, nearly running, as he wrapped him up in a hug.

Harry pulled them away quickly, tucking Louis behind him. “Harry, what are you doing? This is – this is Niall. I know him.”

“I know. But, he’s a newborn. I know how newborns behave around humans.” Harry’s voice was low and serious, a question on his tongue that Niall seemed to get when his eyes widened. The boy liked so different from the last time he’d seen him – and Louis worried over the fact that it didn’t seem like it was because he’d grown up. He seemed paler – more afraid.

“New born? Niall is – wait, what?” He glanced over Niall again, and then he realized. His skin had the same glow he noticed all vampires seemed to have. His eyes had the same darker ring around the edges that Harry’s and Zayn’s both had. “You were changed.” Niall’s face turned down in a slight frown, but he nodded. Louis’ stomach twisted in an emotion that he couldn’t quite pin point – something like betrayal. They’d both bonded originally over their dislike of vampires – even if Louis never really hated the entire species, just a select few – and now Niall had been _changed?_

“I was. Like, three years ago.” He blinked a few times. “It was, um, an illegal change, um, Mr. Styles. I’m sorry – he didn’t –“

“You’re Louis’ friend. Call me Harry.” Harry said with a smile. Louis ignored the happy feeling in his heart.

“Thank you.” Niall smiled. “You look so grown up, Lou. You’re eighteen now right?”

“Yeah. I am. You’re – 22?” He asked, counting up the years in his head. He couldn’t believe the boy he’d first formed a friendship gone sort-of-relationship was back in front of his face after all these years. It was shocking, to say the least, and he wanted to catch up and talk to his once-friend all over again. But even Louis knew he couldn’t do everything he wanted.

Harry seemed skeptical of his friend still, so Louis wasn’t going to push it and walk towards him again. So he just moved so he was standing beside Harry, Harry’s hand on the small of his back, as he looked over the new-Niall that was in front of him.

“I would be, yeah.” He said with a little smile. He glanced down at the computer in front of him and made a face. “I have to work though. Maybe… we can talk another time?” Louis looked to Harry who seemed to be debating it in his head. But eventually the older vampire nodded.

“Yeah, sure. I’d have to be there, at least until I trust you won’t go instinctual on him, but soon. Maybe in a few days.” Louis smiled.

“Thank you, Harry. Bye Niall. See you soon!”

“See you soon, Lou.”

Louis kept walking with Harry, getting to the elevators and leaning back against the wall behind him. Their hands were still intertwined, and Harry pulled him closer suddenly, kissing the top of his head. “I saw a picture of him on your wall.”

“We were really close when we were younger. When he was human.”

“I’m glad you can see him again. I hope you know I don’t ever want to hold you back from anything you want to do. I want you to have everything you always thought you couldn’t. In any way I can provide that for you.” Louis wrapped both of his arms around Harry, then, and hugged him. He wished there were words for how grateful he was for the vampire – but he couldn’t think of anything that could possibly tell what he was feeling. So he just hugged him tight and hoped that that was enough.  

The elevator dinged and Harry finally had to pull away from the hug, but their hands stayed intertwined. The elevator door didn’t open until Harry swiped his key card, since the door would open straight to their room, so as soon as the card was swiped, they walked inside and Louis flung himself down on the bed.

“We should talk, Lou.” Harry said as the elevator’s door closed. Louis looked over to him with furrowed eyebrows.

“Okay. What’s up?” He was nervous. Those were still words he didn’t like.

“I’m sorry I did that – I shouldn’t have used you like a prop like I did.” He smiled softly, glad to hear that it was something that Louis didn’t feel was too big of a deal. It _had_ been terrifying in the moment – but it had, in the end, helped all of those people get freed from that terrible place. So he wasn’t angry.

“It was kind of scary, but I’m glad you did. It made everything seem more … legitimate, maybe?”

“Yeah, maybe. But I am still sorry. Normally I have Zayn with me when I do this – or, I used to, at least. But I’ve never taken a human. I’ll talk to you about my plans next time, okay?”

“Okay.” Louis smiled softly. Harry pulled him into a hug and ruffled his hair, ignoring Louis’ whine in protest. “Harry?” He asked after a moment, happy to be pressed against the vampire still.

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell me more things about your life? Anything you’re willing to tell. It’s just interesting.”

“Well… What part?”

“I don’t know. Any part. When did you first leave the UK?”

“I think I was almost nine hundred years old when I first left. Maybe older. I left with spain, on some of the first voyages out to the new land or America.” Louis smiled.

“You’re old.”

“Heeey.” Harry said with a little laugh, and Louis didn’t need to look up to know he was pouting.

“But it’s ‘kay because I still think you’re cool.”

“Oh, man. Louis thinks I’m cool. That must make me the coolest!” Harry said with another laugh and he hugged him tighter.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being so nice to me. For letting me do things I never would have gotten to. For being you.” Harry smiled again. They were both on the bed, still snugging together when Louis started feeling somewhat tired. He was tired, really. Mentally tired from the shock of the events that had taken place that day and physically tired from the flight.

But he wanted to spend more time with Harry – wanted to make the most of his first day in a new country, in a new world that he had never seen before.

“You should sleep if you’re tired, Lou.” Harry said, rubbing his hands over and around his back. It was making him feel more tired – and he was almost certain Harry was doing that on purpose.

“Yeah I will. Can I call Zayn first, though?”

“How come?” Harry asked with a furrowed brow.

“I –“ He shrugged. There really wasn’t a reason. He just missed him which – yeah. It wasn’t a good enough reason. “Nothing. It’s alright. Nevermind.” He suddenly felt embarrassed. There wasn’t really a reason for him to want to call home – so he could see Harry’s perspective. He just wanted to hear Zayn’s voice. Zayn was the only thing that had been a constant in his life for the last four years, even if he’d disappeared for a while. He was always there and Louis could always count on him to come back when he needed him – so he just wanted to hear his voice to continue having that constant.

But it was alright. He didn’t need to.

“No, no Lou that’s not what I meant. You can, is it just because you miss him?”

“Yeah.” He said with a little blush on his cheeks.

“That’s fine. Here,” Harry pulled out his phone and dialed the number before he handed it back. “It should be ringing.” Louis nodded and put the phone up to his ear, listening to the ringing. Harry’s fingers were running through his hair, soothing him deeper into a comfortable state.

“Hey, Harry.” Zayn said on the other end after a few rings. He sounded tired, his voice cracking in the way it only seemed to do when he’d just woken up. “What do you want?” He sounded bored and apathetic, too, to what he assumed Zayn thought was Harry.

“It’s Louis.” He said with a little laugh.

“Oh! Hey Lou. What’s going on?” The tone from the other vampire changed immediately – sounding brighter and more enthusiastic. He even sounded like he woke up all at once and it made Louis happy. It made him feel like he was just as needed as Zayn was in his life.

“I just wanted to talk. I don’t know. Hows home?”

“It’s good. Liam’s here with me, sleeping since he doesn’t work tonight. The kitchen’s already a mess since I don’t have anyone to tell not to clean it…” Zayn laughed a little and Louis was smiling, eyes closed as he kept his head rested against Harry’s chest. “You homesick?”

“I don’t know. I’m happy being out, I guess. But yeah. I miss the normal.”

“It’s okay, Lou. Maybe you can come back in just a couple months instead of six?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s okay. But, it’s real late here. I’m gonna go back to sleep. Call me later though, alright?”

“Okay. Bye Zayn.”

“Bye Lou.” Then the phone went dead and Louis sighed. He wasn’t sure what was so appealing about the thought of wanting to go back home. He didn’t particularly want to go back home – exploring the world with Harry would be an entirely new experience he knew he would never get the opportunity to explore otherwise. But he wished Zayn and Liam could be there with him. Something about being surrounded by _all_ the people he loved made him feel happy. But it was alright. He knew he couldn’t get everything he wanted, so this was more than enough.

“I’m sorry you miss home.” Harry said after a while, as if thinking about what was appropriate to say. “I probably should have thought about that before I just took you away from everything you’ve ever known. If you want to go home sooner than planned I understand.”

“No, I don’t. I really think I like being out here with you and being able to explore. It’s just different not being around everything that I’m familiar with. But I’ll get used to it.”

“Okay, love.” Harry took Louis’ hand and kissed the back side of it. “I think it’s time for you to get some rest. You look exhausted.”

“I am.”

“Sleep, love. We have an easy day tomorrow, but I still want you to be able to enjoy it.” Louis nodded and smiled as Harry pulled the blanket up over both of them.

“Good night.” He was asleep very shortly after.

 

“Wow.” Louis said, hand still intertwined with Harry’s. He’d been woken by the vampire at the earliest point of dusk to be ushered out into a car that would take him to another one of Harry’s homes. Since he slept in the car most of the drive, he was pleasantly awake by the time they arrived all the way to his house. “Do you have something for very pretty homes?”

“I do, yeah. I love having nice looking living places.” There was a small gate surrounding the property, and at the front there was a code required to get inside. The gate that the car passed was held up by stone towers that were almost as tall as Louis, with his mailbox coming out of the right side. It was all a pretty gray colored stone that blended well into the surrounding natural setting. Large pine trees lined the gates and were spread out in other places around his property, and the garden was clearly well maintained. “A good friend of mine lives here full time, so he maintains it when I’m not around. He’s not here right now though. Said he’d be back sometime later in the year. So we won’t see him during our stay here.”

“So we have the place all to ourselves.” Louis said with an awkward, attempted wink.

“We sure do.” Harry said with a smile, stepping out of the car and holding the door open for Louis. He stepped out and waited until Harry closed the door before intertwining their hands back together. It was starting to just feel wrong if he wasn’t touching Harry in some way at all times – so he made sure he was touching him always. Harry seemed to be the same way, though, so he hoped the vampire didn’t mind. “Let’s head up to our room, shall we?”

Louis nodded and followed the vampire into the house. There was a large foyer with a stair case against the left wall and a straight view to the lake in the back of Harry’s yard. There were other doors lining the left side of the walls behind the sliding glass door that showed the back room – and all of it was adorned with white or light gray furniture.

The floors were all hardwood and everything here just seemed so _Harry._ The other house where he’d always lived was all of Zayn’s ideas – everything Zayn wanted was there because Zayn had always been there – always been the only one living there. But everything here had that elegant and pristine side to Harry that he’d been able to see from the vampire’s bedroom back home. It was almost comforting to see something that was so Harry. He loved being surrounded by something that made him happy – by someone who made him happy.

He was certain Harry could hear all of his thoughts that were running through his head, because he could see the wide smile on his face.

They walked up the stairs together and Harry opened the first door on the right that led to what he assumed was their bedroom. It was less elegant than the one back home, but it was still pretty. It looked like it hadn’t been lived in in quite a while. “I’m gonna run and get your bag, alright? Feel free to look around, do whatever you want. Be right back.” Then he was gone and Louis was left to look around.

He went to the window and opened the curtains, looking outside with a smile. The moonlight lit the water in the back, and he could see almost everything that surrounded them. There was another house somewhere out in the distance, since he could vaugley see some lights turned on, but it looked like it was a decent distance away. He enjoyed it – liked the privacy that Harry seemed to take carful choice with when he chose where to place his homes.

He fell back on the bed once again – a ritual he was beginning to enjoy in order to get comfortable enough to sleep in a place – and groaned. It was so _soft._ The first thought that came to his head was how excited he was to have Harry fuck him on this mattress – but he wasn’t going to think about that too much. The last thing he needed was Harry to read his thoughts and hear that embarassing fact – so he tried to think of something different.

When Harry walked back in, Louis didn’t notice, since his face was in the pillow, until there was an affectionate kiss on the top of his head. “Hi.” The vampire said, setting his bag down on top of the dresser before laying beside Louis. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, but I don’t ever want to get up. This bed is wonderful.”

“It is nice. I’m glad you like it.” Louis rolled over to face the vampire and smiled. The homesickness he was feeling the night before was still there, deep in his chest as he tried to get used to being so far away from home in a place that was unfamiliar, but the happiness outweighed it. He was so happy with Harry – so sure that this was where he wanted to be. He could already hope that the homesickness would end after a while. “Want me to go cook something for us?”

“You can cook?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“I can, actually. I went to cullinary school a few decades ago.”

“Cullinary school?”

“Yeah. Just for fun, I guess. But I learned a lot about cooking.”

“Well, Styles, I think you have something to prove, then.” Harry winked. “Carry me?” The vampire made an over-exaggerated groaning noise and threw his arm over his eyes before he sighed loudly.

“Humans! So needy! Harry, carry me. Harry, feed me. Harry, give me a place to sleep.” Louis giggled – blushing at the noise – but when Harry looked over at him and smiled, it was all worth it. A moment later, he was up in the vampire’s arms and they were on their way to the kitchen. “I had some groceries delivered, just so it was easier that way. So I really only have the stuff for waffles. Is that okay?”

“Sure. I just want to see these cooking skills.” Harry rolled his eyes and pulled all of the ingredients from the cupboard and refrigerator. Louis sat on the counter (ignoring the quirked eyebrow Harry shot his way) and watched as the vampire cooked. Once the batter was all mixed and ready, Harry poured it into the waffle maker and closed the lid.

Right after, he went into the fridge once again and pulled out a box of strawberries before chopping them up and mixing in a little sugar.

“So far so good.” Harry said with a wink in Louis’ direction.

“So far.” Louis said in a teasing voice, swinging his feet. The machine beeped after a while, and Louis hopped down. Harry took the waffles from the machine and put them on the plate, then poured his strawberry sauce on top and placed the plates down on the table.

Louis pretended the waffles were gross, but Harry laughed at him when he finished them all anyway.

 

“Hey, Lou?”

“What is it?” Louis asked, looking over to the vampire from his sketch book. Harry was standing at the top of the stairs while Louis was sitting on the living room couch, feet clad in fuzzy socks while he was taking in all of the warmth from the fireplace.

The house had central heating, but Harry said something about it needing fixed. So all seven (seven!) of the fireplaces were lit to try and get some warmth inside. Louis, though, was naturally cold almost all of the time, so he had pretty much moved in to the spot in front of the fireplaces both in the living room and in their bedroom.

Harry found it cute, luckily, or else he’d be very cold.  

“Have you ever thought about taking photos? I know you like to draw everything you see, but would you like to try your hand at photography? I found this up in the attic and – I was wondering if you wanted it?” The vampire came down the stairs and handed him a little box-shaped thing with some kind of rectangle sticking out of the other side.

“What’s this?”

“It’s my old polaroid. I have a whole bunch of unused film and I know I’m never going to use it, since I take all my pictures on my phone now, but I thought you might.”

“How does it work?”

“Here,” Harry said, taking the box – camera – and sitting beside Louis. He turned it so the rectangle off of the back was pointing away and clicked a button. It made a little noise and before long, there was a piece of paper coming from the bottom. Harry grabbed the paper and shook it a few times – and a picture of him and Harry appeared right on the paper! “You just look through this glass right here, focus it on what you want to take a photo of, and then hit that button. Then the paper comes out and you shake it, and it develops.”

“That’s – so cool. You’re really going to give this to me?”

“Yeah – if you want it.”

“Yes, that’s – this is so cool. Thank you!” He held it up and looked through the little eye-hole thing (which he’d taken to calling it) just to get a feel for what it was like to look through it. He didn’t see anything that was worth taking a picture of just yet, so he set it back down and just went to hug the vampire. “Thank you.” He repeated, leaning his head on Harry’s shoulder. There was something about being close to him that just made him feel content and like he was able to convey his words better through touch than he ever would have been able to if he was just speaking.

“You’re welcome, Lou.” He was so grateful that Harry seemed to understand that he wasn’t only thanking him for the camera. He was thanking him for everything – for his place in his life, for how amazing he was, for how he made him feel. It all just added up to make him feel like he genuinely had a place – a _purpose._ Maybe it wasn’t how he’d expected life to be when he was growing up – maybe it was completely different from any future he’d ever seen for himself when he stared at the walls of the facility and later stared at the walls of his room in Zayn’s home. But in the end he was happier than he’d ever imagined himself to be, too.

If things were different and better, he’d take it any day.

 

By the end of the week, there were little signs of Louis and Harry all over the house. One of Louis’ socks was still in the kitchen from when Harry had decided he wanted to have sex in the kitchen and Louis complied and hastily threw his clothes all over the kitchen. The bathroom had all of Louis’ typical soaps lining the shelves as well as Harry’s organic shampoos and soaps that Louis always made fun of him for. And most of all, their room felt like it was _theirs._ Louis had taken several photos, most of the house and Harry and the places Harry had taken him to, and hung them on the walls.

“Are you going to take those with you when we leave? You know we have to leave in a few weeks, right?” Harry asked one night before they were both about to sleep.

“No, I think I’ll leave them. Then they’ll still be here if I ever come back here with you and we’ll both be able to remember all of those little moments that we otherwise might have forgotten. I think it’ll be the same for every stop we take. I like to leave a mark.”

“You’ve left a mark on me already, Lou. I certainly don’t need any physical reminders.”

“I don’t think I do either, but I don’t want to forget anything.”

They both fell asleep when the sun was already high in the sky with naked bodies pressed against each other. They hadn’t had sex that night – but Harry had learned that Louis loved the physical contact in the end more than anything. He loved just touching and being near Harry as much as possible.

“I just want to make you happy.” Louis heard, a faint whisper, as unconsciousness took over.

 

The days were usually spent sleeping on Louis’ part, but his schedule had shifted to only sleeping half the day and half the night, since that was how Harry operated. He had some vampires who needed to meet up with him at night, and others that preferred to be awake in the day time since they were old enough to be outside, and some humans who wanted to come to him with questions. So he had to be able to accommodate both of those kinds of people, so their days became a mixture.

Turns out, Louis enjoyed that a lot more than he had just sleeping through the days. The days were beautiful – the sunrises even more so. Sunrise was usually well passed his bed time when he was living with Zayn – so unless he was trying to not sleep for a day, he rarely got to see them. So having the chance to see them every day made him feel like he had been missing something his entire life. Something about the sun rising every day and starting a new made him feel refreshed, alive, in a different way than he’d ever felt before.

“Hey,” Harry said, wrapping his arms around Louis’ waist and kissing his neck. “I don’t have anyone else to meet with tonight, so I want to show you something.”

“What is it?”

“A surprise. Cover your eyes.” Louis quirked an eyebrow for just a moment, but he covered his eyes with his hands and let Harry pick him up, trying not to focus on the extremely fast movement. He had a love-hate relationship with Harry picking him up and moving at full speed. It usually made him feel somewhat sick and dizzy, but when Harry carried him outside, the fresh air against his face just made him feel more awake. Sometimes it was nice. “Okay, open.” Harry said, setting Louis down but keeping his hands on his hips to make sure that he didn’t lose his balance.

When he opened his eyes, there was a blanket lying on the road with pillows and a little basket that looked something like a make-shift picnic basket. “I thought it would be fun to take you on a … real first date, yeah?”

“This is – so cute.” Louis said, blinking away the happy tears in his eyes.

“You deserve everything I can give you, Lou. I want to give you everything in the world.” Louis hugged the vampire again. The sun wasn’t yet going to rise, but he liked that Harry planned it around the time where the sun would be rising shortly. He knew the vampire knew how much he loved sunrise, and it was an unexpected romantic gesture that he would want to share that with him.

They laid out on the blankets, Harry pulling out two little dessert-looking cakes and some wine. “I figured since we already ate supper, a dessert picnic would be more … appropriate.” Harry said with a little laugh. Louis loved Harry.

Loved?

He ignored that thought.

Louis stayed leaning right against Harry, his head rested against Harry’s shoulder as they ate. He had a glass of wine and the warmth that was spreading through his body was pleasant. Harry told him about his day and how he met with a woman who reminded him of his birth family with the way she handled her children and how she seemed so loving.

“Do you want kids, Harry?” Louis asked after he told his story.

“I might. If I was mortal. But I don’t think I’d be able to handle outliving my children.”

“Makes sense. I don’t blame you – I can imagine it would be terribly painful to have a child die.” Louis was quiet. “Can I ask an… odd question?”

“Sure.”

“What happens when babies are born vampires?”

“They age until the biological age of puberty, and then they stay like that. They’re not immortal, though, but they do have a significantly longer lifespan than a usual human. Somewhere around three or four hundred years. They can be changed, if the parents do it right, but it’s a risky process.”

“That’s…”

“Weird, I know. I honestly don’t really understand it, but there are a lot of things I’ve learned not to question.”

“You know you’re the first vampire that’s ever actually told me about life as a vampire?”

“Am I?” Harry looked over and gave a little smile. “It’s only cause I guess you’re sort of tolerable.” Louis rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue.

The hours passed as conversation flowed easily between them.

Harry was beside him, both of them spread out on a long since used road. It was warm and there was a soft breeze that tousled Harry’s hair every once and a while. “When I was a teenager, my parents were big believers in prophecy.” Louis glanced over to Harry, but the vampire was still staring at the sky above them with a fond intensity. “They always believed that the Gods would tell us what was to come in the future and what we would eventually achieve in life. I believed it too, growing up, and sometimes I still like to think about it and look back on those ideas with happy memories.” Harry took that pause to intertwine their fingers. “There was one day when an oracle told me I’d meet a boy and – it was insane to think that, right? Because homosexuality was a pass time when I was living, something for entertainment and pleasure only – never love. But when this woman told me I’d meet and fall in love with a boy – I felt something. I kind of like to think back to her when I look at you, because you’re exactly what she described.” Louis had never heard a vampire speak of such a detailed memory and he was completely intrigued by it. “She said that since I was born on the constellation of the Eagle, I would find a forbidden love. She mentioned blue eyes and – I don’t know. Sometimes I like to think the future can be written in the stars. I think about that woman a lot.”

Louis ignored the fluttering in his chest.

“Thank you for sharing that with me.”

The sun started to rise as Harry finished his story, and Harry chose that moment to kiss him – a slow and unheated kiss, but it said everything that Louis had always feared.

_I love you._

 

Louis didn't stop thinking about that night as the days continued to pass. Niall hadn’t yet contacted him, but he had contacted Harry and the blonde boy was supposed to come over some time in the next few days. It was excited and Louis was ready to be able to catch up with his old friend.

He was so happy with his life.

The phonecalls that had been almost daily to Zayn in the beginning were slowly trickling down to only once or twice a week and the homesickness was almost completely gone. Of course it was still there at certain times, like when he missed how Zayn would ruffle his hair after he said something stupid or how he’d have to make Zayn’s obnoxious tea with sugar in it, but he didn’t think about those things as much anymore. He thought about how happy he was here and how much his life had changed in just the six short that they’d lived in this home.

He thought about how he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he loved Harry.

He thought about how he was so happy Harry had chosen him to be the one to come with him and live with him and experience all of these things with him.

He didn’t stop thinking until he heard a soft music from the room as he was finishing hanging his pictures. He hung the last of the eight new photos he’d taken and went down the stairs to explore. Harry was pressing little black and white buttons and he assumed that that was what was making the music.

“What’s that?” He asked, looking to the vampire.

“It’s a piano.”

“Show me?” Louis asked, taking a seat right beside the vampire. Harry smiled softly and took his hands to the keys, pressing each with a smooth slide as the sounds from each press molded together into a well put-together tune. Louis leaned his head against Harry’s shoulder, smiling softly. He wasn’t sure exactly how he managed to get himself here, how he’d managed to build a life where he was happy. “I love you.” He said softly. His heart skipped a beat as soon as the words were out, but he knew they’d come sooner or later. Harry didn’t stop playing, but Louis smiled softly as he noticed the twitch in his fingers when he spoke.  

When the song ended, Harry glanced over to him and took his chin between two fingers. Their faces were so close that he could feel Harry’s breath, but his own breath was taken away when Harry said a simple, “I think I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly considered leaving you all on a cliff hanger again :-/ Next update might be Monday - no school!! - but no promises. 
> 
> follow my tumblr if you so wish. Scream at me, yell at me, submit me pictures of your fanart or cats: http://futurxhearts.tumblr.com/


	7. VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Touch. Distance. Reunion.

_Will you be my love?_

_Will you go with me?_

_Are you who I dreamed Or just a memory?_

_Will you understand What I have to do?_

_Will you be the man The one I thought I knew?_

Open Your Eyes - Bea Miller.

 

Louis and Harry spent the rest of the day lulling about the house and enjoying their time together. Harry played a few classical music CDs and taught Louis how to dance to a few of them (even though he stood on the vampire’s feet most of the time) and they had a fun day.

“Want to watch a movie?” Harry asked, rubbing circles with his thumbs on the backs of his hands. It was a cute romantic gesture and it had Louis smiling the entire time.

“Of course.” He said and walked upstairs beside the vampire, happily taking his place on the bed. Harry laid beside him and took the remote, clicking something on the t.v. He pulled Louis closer to him and Louis smiled and kissed Harry.

He’d gotten used to initiating their little affections just because he knew he _could_ and it was a wonderful feeling.

“You’re beautiful.” Harry said, running the back of his hand down Louis’ cheek.

“Oh, I know.” Louis said, sending a wink in the vampire’s direction.

“Cheeky.”

“You love it.”

“I do.” Harry kissed him again, this time with a little more passion behind it. Louis smiled into the kiss and went to crawl on top of Harry.

“You wanna know something?”

“Hm?” Harry asked, putting his hands on Louis’ hips and rubbing his thumbs in circles over his hip bones.

“Ever since we moved in to this house, I’ve wanted you to fuck me into this mattress.” Harry’s eyebrows shot up and he slowly moved his hands down to Louis’ ass, touching him through his pants.

“Oh yeah? What else do you want?” Louis had slowly gotten more confident in telling Harry what he wanted in bed – even if he had only done it one other time. But he’d thought about it enough to hope he wasn’t going to sound awkward when he finally decided to say things out loud.

“I – really want you to eat me out again. And – I really like it when you take control.”

“I’m glad you’re comfortable enough to tell me that, Lou. I always want to make sure you’re comfortable with what we’re doing, yeah?”

“Yeah.” He said with a smile and kissed Harry’s nose, smiling softly. Harry moved Louis off of his lap and flipped the both of them over, hovering over the smaller human’s body. Louis stared up at the vampire. There was a twisty feeling in his stomach that left him happier and feeling safe. It was ironic to think that he felt safe beneath a vampire – but he did. He felt loved and cared for in a way he never had before. “How about this?” Harry took his wrists and held them down against the bed. Louis bit his lip.

“Feels good.” Harry kissed him again, and Louis keened under the touch. He loved the feeling of Harry holding him down – loved the feeling of handing himself over to the vampire and giving up control. Normally, in any other part of his life, he needed to be in control. But with Harry, everything was different. He made him different.

“Keep your hands there, okay? Don’t move them.” Harry tells him as he pulls away to trail kisses down along Louis’ jawline, to nip at his neck and suck a bruise into Louis’ pulse point. The irony of the fact that he didn’t feel threatened with Harry biting him wasn’t really at the tip of his mind anymore, but rather he just let himself focus on the feeling.

Louis kept his hands above his head like he’d been told even as Harry’s hands made their way beneath it, warm fingers running over the smooth spans of his colder skin. He brushed his thumbs over the nubs of his nipples and Louis gasped. He loved that Harry knew his nipples were sensitive, and he _loved_ that harry was willing to exploit his sensitivities to make him feel good.

Harry wastes no time after that before he’s tugging Louis’ sweats off of his legs, leaving him in just his boxers. His erection tented the thin material, and Harry glanced up at him, giving a wink before palming him through his boxers.

Louis moaned at the contact, moving his hands only enough to clasp them together. Harry’s movements stopped entirely and he pulled his hands away. “I told you not to move your hands.”

“I – I’m sorry. I won’t –“ It was overwhelming that Harry chose that moment to stop – the moment he was completely turned on and finally being touched.

“Hey, shh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. Too much?” Louis nodded and smiled when Harry kissed him again. Then the touch was back and he let his eyes fall shut. “I’m gonna suck you a little, then I’ll eat you out. You want that, love?”

“Yeah – yes. Yes.”

“You’re so pretty. So beautiful.” Louis blushed under the compliment, glancing down at the vampire with his lip between his teeth. He loved when Harry complimented him, loved when Harry called him pet names, loved _Harry._ It still felt good to be able to admit that to himself.

Harry smiled softly and pulled Louis’ boxers away, tossing them somewhere to the side in the room before he took the head of his dick in his mouth. Louis moaned again, back arching off of the bed and toes curling up.

Louis couldn’t keep his hands still anymore when Harry’s tongue curled beneath the head of his cock as he pressed his head down further, and he tangled his fingers into his hair. Harry didn’t seem to mind this time, though, as he kept going. He took Louis’ entire cock into his mouth, making the human moan loudly again.

There’s something beautiful about the way Harry’s lips look around his cock, about the way Harry is completely focused on _him._

“Harry – can you – I’m gonna come if you keep going like that.”

“Do you want to come like this?” Harry asked, pulling his mouth away but keeping a steady rhythm with his hand.

“No – not yet.” Harry gave a small smile and a nod. Louis loved how much he cared about what he was feeling – always wanted to make sure he had what he needed. “I believe you said something about eating me out, Styles?” Louis said, a breathy laugh pushing past his lips.

“Cheeky.” Harry said again and Louis just winked. Harry’s hands were on his thighs again as he pushed Louis’ knees up towards his chest. He placed little kisses on his knees, then his thighs, biting and sucking marks into his pale skin. “Have I ever told you how pretty you look when you’re all marked up like you’re mine?” Louis blushed and put his arm over his face to hide it. The contrast of Harry’s dirty mouth and his kind words always made his head spin. “You look pretty all the time, really, but there’s really something amazing about how you look like this, or with my cock in you, or when you’re just about to come.” 

The vampire chose that moment to lick a stripe over his hole – making Louis gasp. He fisted his hands into the sheets as he looked down at Harry. There was something exciting about being so intimate with someone he loved as much as he really did. It was incredible to be able to do so something that seemed like he never would have gotten to experience. He never thought he would have been able to really, truly love someone. But Harry proved him wrong in so many great ways.

He moaned again as Harry kept up with his tongue, mixing his motions of little kitten licks and pressing his tongue inside of him, breathless little noises coming from the back of his throat. “Harry I’m gonna –“

“It’s okay, babe. Go ahead.” Louis whined again, toes curling as his eyes closed tightly. Harry’s tongue pushed inside of him one more time, and he came with a shout. He took a moment to catch his breath before glancing over to Harry, and he pulled the vampire closer to him, just to be able to kiss him.

“Can I suck you off now?”

“Like you have to ask.” Harry said with a little laugh and Louis rolled his eyes. “On the bed or on your knees?”

“Bed, please.” He said with a little laugh and watched as the vampire kicked off his pants, followed with his boxers, before settling back against the headboard. Louis turned to face him and settled himself on his knees between Harry’s legs, meeting the vampire’s gaze for just a moment. His eyes were still blown wide, pupils covering most of the beautiful green that Louis had learned to love, but it was actually _hot_ when he got the chance to experience Harry being aroused.

He let his hands rest on Harry’s thighs and took the head of the vampire’s cock between his lips, sucking softly before running his tongue over the vein that he knew was the most sensitive. He kept his attention there for a moment, until he felt Harry’s cock twitch against his tongue and the vampire’s fingers tangle in his hair before he finally pressed his head down.

He still couldn’t take all of Harry into his mouth, but what he couldn’t reach he moved his hand over, and the vampire didn’t seem to mind. Forming a little rhythm in his head, he hummed softly as he got into the movements. Harry’s tugs got a bit harder on his hair, one of the only hints he ever got before Harry came, so he pulled away.

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed and Louis just gave a smile.

“Can I try something?” His voice was slightly more hoarse than normal, the tone a bit more breathy than he’d ever heard himself sound.

“What do you want to try?”

“Can I ride you?” Harry’s eyebrows went from furrowed to shot up, making Louis giggle.

“You’re a little menace, aren’t you? Of course you can. Come here.”

Biting his lip, Louis moved to straddle Harry’s lap and kissed him again. He loved that Harry was so open to letting him try things, even with the possibility that he might not like it. There were so many things that he loved about Harry, even if there were all so little and insignificant. “Kay, okay, I’m gonna just –“ He brought the tip of Harry’s cock to his hole and slowly sat down. When he bottomed out, Harry placed a little kiss on his shoulder.

“You’re doing so well, love. You feel okay? Take your time, don’t rush yourself.”

“Feels – good.” He leaned forward and kissed Harry again, welcoming the distraction from the slight pain with the vampire’s lips against his own. After a moment, he finally moved his hips, using his knees to push himself up, and then back down. The angle was _so_ different from when Harry had fucked him before, and he moved so Harry’s cock brushed right against that wonderful little spot right inside of him with each movement. Before long, the vampire’s hands were tight against his hips, helping him keep up his rhythm even when his knees were tired.

Louis was slightly lost in the feeling and just let Harry move him, let Harry control how he was moving and just held on to his arms. He was moaning with each movement, breaths coming out short. There was a slight fuzzy feeling in his head and he felt like he was flying – but it felt incredible.

“Lou, baby, you still with me?” He heard Harry ask after a moment, and he gave him a soft smile.

“Yeah. Yeah – I’m – ‘s good.” His thighs trembled as Harry hit his prostate over and over and then he came unexpectedly, his body not giving any warning. Harry fucked him through it, and barely a moment later he felt him coming inside of him and everything felt right.

He wasn’t asleep, then, as he leaned up against Harry’s chest, but he felt safe and secure with the vampire’s whispered praises in his ear and gentle rubbing against his back.

 

 

 

 

It was about a half hour later when Louis was back to himself, his head cleared, but he felt sticky. Come had dried on his and Harry’s chest and – he was laying in it. He made a small, grossed out face which made Harry laugh. “Let’s get in the shower, yeah?” Louis nodded and gave a smile, standing with Harry and following him over to the bathroom. He leaned against the sink as Harry turned the temperature of the water to something that was comfortable for the both of them and stepped inside. Louis followed right behind, standing on his tippy toes to kiss Harry’s nose.

The water ran over both of them, naked bodies pressed together as Louis just enjoyed being close to Harry. There was nothing sexual about the two of them being together like that, but rather it was just a comfort. Harry had his hands resting on Louis’ hips and Louis kept his arms wrapped around Harry’s waist. The height difference never really bothered him – no matter how many times Harry liked to call him small.

“I love you, Lou.” Harry said and Louis grinned.

“I love you too, Haz.” It was freeing to be able to say that without worry. It was the best feeling to feel loved and love.

He was happy.

 

Niall came over later in the day, when he and Harry were dry and had both gotten something to eat, and Louis was ecstatic all over again.

“Hey, Ni.” He said from the couch as Harry led the other vampire inside. Harry had said he didn’t want them to touch each other until he trusted Niall – just because he was so young. Younger vampires had a scary tendency to be reckless around humans.

“Hey Lou!” The blond vampire said, smiling softly. But Louis noticed the way he was looking around, slightly awkward, as if trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. Louis knew that Harry had told him exactly what he thought about him coming too close to Louis when they’d been speaking, but he wasn’t sure how much he’d really said.

“You can sit if you want.” Louis said, motioning to the couch oppoite from the one he was sitting on. Harry sat beside Louis. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been – good. Yeah. You?”

“I’ve been good. It’s really good to see you again.” It was strange that they were almost _awkward_ with each other all over again. It was like they were meeting for the first time and it made Louis feel slightly unease. But it was just a riff that he knew would pass eventually. They hadn’t been around each other in years, so re-building that familiarity would take time.

He understood.

“How’s life been since before all… this?” Niall asked. Louis understood – he probably meant since he left the facility.

“It’s been different. I lived with Harry’s friend Zayn for the last four years – now I’m here. How’d you get all the way over here?”

“Well – it’s kind of a long story, I guess? I don’t want to bore you.” Niall laughed, but Louis knew him well enough to know that it wasn’t a humourous laugh. It was a sad one, trying to cover up his insecurities. He’d done that when they were kids, too.

“That’s alright. Have you done anything interesting?”

“Well, besides working, I managed to go to school for a while. I learned a lot about how to read and all of those things I didn’t get to do before. I’m still learning – they said it’s a lot harder when you wait, but I’m getting there. I live right down the street from the hotel with my maker, and he’s… yeah. Life’s interesting.” Louis smiled.

“That’s awesome! I’m happy for you, Ni.”

Eventually, Harry was just playing on his phone and Louis and Niall kept talking. Louis made tea for everyone and the rest of the day went smoothly. Niall told him everything about how he’d always wanted to work and be able to get his own house and build up his own life, especially now that he was going to be able to live forever.

He told him all the differences that came with being a vampire instead of a human and answered all of the weird, forbidden questions for him that they’d always been told not to ask as children. It was… different, to say the least, to have a friend who had once been human but wasn’t anymore, but he was just glad to have his friend back at all.

His maker came and got him about an hour after he showed up. Louis wasn’t sad that he was gone, surprisingly, but instead he was just happy he had the opportunity to see his friend.

 

It was the next night when Louis woke up to an empty bed.

“Hey, you going somewhere?” He asked, rolling over to see Harry shrugging his jacket on.

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t want to wake you. I have a meeting in about a half hour. But I should be back in a few hours, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You want anything while I’m out?”

“I think I’m almost out of tea. Can you get some more?”

“Of course. See you later, love.” Harry said and kissed him softly, then he was out the door and Louis sighed happily. He loved his life, loved how he was able to live without any limitations. Harry trusted him. Eventually, he rolled back over in bed and let himself fall back asleep.

 

By eleven pm, he was showered, and ready to start his day. Harry had only been gone for about an hour and a half, and he’d only been able to sleep for another half hour, so when he woke again, he just got up.

He was in the middle of cooking himself pancakes when he heard the front door open and close.

“Harry! You’re home early.” He said with a smile, but when he turned around, he felt sick.

It wasn’t Harry. It was someone else and that same feeling of despair he’d felt the first time he’d seen Harry was back in his stomach. “Oh.” He said softly. “You’re not Harry.”

“Shut up.” The vampire barked and Louis stepped back. “I don’t want to play any games, so come with me easily and I won’t hurt you.” Louis’ eyes widened and he stepped back again, until he was backed against the counter top. “So are you going to make this easy, or difficult?”

Louis grabbed the handle of his pan and swung it at the strange vampire as hard as he could, the hot metal making the vampire step enough away that Louis could run. He ran into one of the guest bedrooms down the hall, locked the door behind him, and slipped into the closet.

It was just a time tactic, but he wouldn’t admit that to himself. He was trying to save himself time, trying to make it long enough that Harry would come home and help him before he was _really_ fucked.

It was silent for a long while, and Louis looked through the little keyhole of the closet door as he waited.

Nothing.

There was just silence, complete and total silence throughout the entire house that made him feel sick all over again. Maybe the vampire just left? He could hope so, but he wasn’t going to come out until Harry came home. Until he was sure he was safe.

The silence was broken by the room to the bedroom opening and – oh, _god._ He stepped away from his little line of sight and tried to calm his erratic heart beating – tried to calm himself down as best as he could. He couldn’t hear footsteps, couldn’t hear anything except for his own racing heart in his ears.

“I gave you the option to make this easy, and you chose not to. So now, I’m going to make this hurt.” Was all the vampire said, and Louis knew he was screwed even before the door swung open and the vampire’s hands were around his throat. He squeezed his eyes closed as he dug his nails into the vampire’s skin, trying to hurt _him_ enough to make him let go, but then his head was slammed back against a wall and everything went fuzzy.

He wasn’t unconscious, but he was dizzy. His footing wasn’t right, and when the vampire swung him over his shoulder, he couldn’t do much besides just hang there as he tried to see which way was up.

But he wasn’t going to quit fighting. Not a chance.

So he rolled his body with every ounce of strength he could take, until he felt himself falling. Maybe he hadn’t thought that through entirely, because when his back hit the floor, the wind was knocked out of him. “Stupid human.” Was all the vampire said before he picked him up bridal style this time, and Louis was still gasping for air, trying to catch his breath.

The vampire tossed him inside of a car as soon as he’d caught his breath, but then he shoved a towel over his face. “Take a deep breath. Obviously fighting me doesn’t work.” Louis clawed at the vampire’s hands once again, refusing to do anything but hold his breath as he tried to fight away.

But it wasn’t long until he couldn’t hold his breath anymore and his arms felt heavy. He dropped his hands away from where they’d been scratching at the vampire, and then everything went dark.

 

The first thing he noticed when he woke was that it was _freezing._ Then he looked around and – none of that had been a dream. He was sitting on the ground in front of the same vampire who’d – _kidnapped him._

“Why are you doing this?” He asked, rage preventing him from pretending he was asleep. It probably would have been better if he’d kept up the act that he was – but Louis never did do what was good for him.

“See, that’s the thing.” The vampire said, his smirk sending chills down Louis’ spine. “Harry took something I loved from me, so now I’ll take something he loves from him.” Louis’ eyes flicked over to Niall, who was staring at the ground with a frown on his face. His hands were clasped behind his back and Louis suddenly felt so _resentful._ Niall was just going to let this happen! The older vampire undid the binds on his hands before he turned to his once-friend. “Let’s go, Niall.” The blond vampire just nodded and followed the older vampire from the room, not even glancing over to him.

Louis waited until all of the lights were out and the cold settled into his bones to cry. He didn’t understand why his friend would turn on him like this. He didn’t understand why this was happening – Harry had only done the right thing and now he was being punished for it? None of it seemed fair.

Would he ever see Harry again?

Liam?

Zayn?

Was he doing to die here with no one to ever hear from him again?

He curled in closer to himself, pulling his knees to his chest and trying to trap whatever body warmth he had left into his clothes. It was so cold he could feel it through the material of his coat and his socks were doing nothing to protect his feet. The walls felt like they were made of metal and they were just as cold as the inside of the little room he’d been shoved inside of. He thought briefly that they were going to leave him here to freeze to death – and he could only hope Niall would have the same love for him he’d had for him and help in some way.

He shivered and laid his head down on his knees. He tried to think about the happy times – about all of the things that had made him feel good about his life. The only thing he tried not to think about was Harry – if he thought about Harry, he’d only worry that he was looking for him. Of course he’d love for Harry to come and save him, too, but he didn’t want to think about how Harry was probably worrying about him. Or worse, if he wasn’t worrying at all and was just going on with his life.

The not knowing was what was the most terrifying.

 

Niall came in some time later in the night and handed him a blanket. Louis didn’t say anything but wrapped it around himself tightly. It wasn’t much warmer than it had been before, but he was grateful for anything at that point. The blond vampire stood there for a while, and Louis knew he was there even if he couldn’t see as well in the dark as vampires could. “I’m sorry Louis.” Louis didn’t say anything, didn’t even look up. Niall wasn’t sorry – if he was he’d be letting him out and setting him free. But instead he was still trapped.  “I wish – I wish there was something I could do for you but Nick is – he’s a lot stronger than I am. He’d stop me before I could do anything to help you.” Louis sniffled. “If it – if it makes you feel any better – I was in this same situation just a few years ago. It’s bad but – it’ll be okay. I wish it wasn’t bad. And I know you probably hate me now which – I understand. But – “

“Niall! I said take him the blanket, not have a conversation!”

“Sorry. I have to go.” Louis knew he was gone again when there was the sound of the door closing. He was alone once again and all he wanted was Harry.

 

There was nothing. Nothing. Nothing. No sounds, no people, no signs of life. It went on like that until Louis was nodding in and out of sleep unwillingly. He couldn’t feel any part of his body – almost everything was numb – and he was starting to think he was freezing to death. But if he had to be asleep to freeze to death, then he didn’t want to sleep. He wanted to live – wanted to live and make sure he got out of here and make sure that Nick got what was coming to him. He wanted to live to make sure he’d see Harry and Zayn and Liam again. He was _going_ to live because there were far too many things he’d promised to himself he’d do that he hadn’t gotten to do just yet and he wasn’t ready to have all of that taken away from him.

So he stared at the darkness and tried to focus on every heightened sense in his body – he focused on the pain in his toes to try and keep himself awake. He did sit ups while still wrapped up in his blanket to try and bring more warmth to his body. Sit ups turned to any other little exercises he could do that made him warm until his muscles were tired and sore and he couldn’t feel his fingers.

He was certain he was outside somewhere – locked inside of some kind of shed or something that was made with only the prupose to keep him trapped inside. The purpose wasn’t to keep him warm or safe – just trapped inside.

It made his stomach twist in a terribly unpleasant way.

He watched as the darkness was slowly taken over by streams of light shining through the outline of the door, just enough to tell him that it was daylight out – that Niall wouldn’t be coming out at any time until the sun went down. He wondered for a moment if Nick was old enough to be out in the sun yet – but it didn’t last long when he touched the walls of his little box and felt that they were getting warmer.

The box heated up as the day went on until it was almost too hot – almost miserable to be trapped inside underneath the heat. But it was better than the cold.

The light let him see a bit more of the inside, let him see that the walls were in fact made of metal and that there was a little mattress shoved over in the corner with a throw blanket tossed on top. Louis hadn’t seen it the night before, but when he crawled over to the bed and let himself lay down, he was happy it was there.

The metal of the flooring had made his bum start to hurt and go numb under his own weight instead of the cold. So being on top of something soft was better than nothing.

As the day started to expire and the hours went on, Louis was almost certain Nick wasn’t old enough to be out in the sun. So he turned to face the metal, scratching a tally mark into the metal to count for one full day and night that he’d been stuck in that box.

Niall had done the same about three feet over, his name was messily scratched into the paint of the metal and there were – a lot of tally marks. Louis scratched his name into the paint in the same fashion Niall had and sighed softly. He would count Niall’s tallys when the sun came back up – maybe it would give him something to do – or maybe it was just an idea of how long he was going to be stuck here.

 

“You haven’t slept.” Niall said, the sudden sound startling Louis. He looked over to the vampire and just shrugged. He couldn’t see him clearly, but his eyes had pretty much adjusted to the darkness, so he could see the faint outline of his body. “I brought you some food.”

“Thanks.” Louis said, throat feeling scratchy already.

“Can I come sit with you?”

“I guess.” Niall’s weight was beside him on the mattress only a few moments later, and he handed over the plate. It was just a sandwich, but anything looked appealing at that moment. He was hungry. Niall didn’t say anything until he was finished and the plate was set to the side, but Louis didn’t mind. He missed having contact with another body – missed being accompanied by someone even if it was just in silence. “Why are you here instead of him? Is he making you do his dirty work?”

“No.” Niall said softly. “If I didn’t ask to bring you things, he’d leave you here with nothing.” Louis bit his lip. “It took him a week to do anything more than bring me water when I was here, and if he wouldn’t have had to do that, he wouldn’t have.”

“Why does he do it like this? What’s the point?”

“He doesn’t think humans are worth more than dirt. That’s why he changed me, I guess. He thought I was nice or something, but he couldn’t treat me well in his world until I was a vampire, too. So now I’m stuck here forever.”

“I just want to go home, Niall. I don’t – I’m scared and – what does he plan to do with me? Is he going to kill me?”

“No, he isn’t going to kill you. I’d imagine he’s – do you want to know Louis? I don’t really like to be the barer of bad news unless I have to be.”

“I’d like to know. At least having an idea will give me some kind of security.”

“He’s probably going to use you to rebuild the trade, then. Since Damon’s dead, he has to start from scratch and – there are a lot of vampires in the black market who really, really dislike Harry. So I’ve heard him talking about very high prices on your head and – I’m so sorry about all of this. He’s really a terrible person.”

“Why can’t you go tell Harry? If you have so much freedom to just do what you want – why can’t you get me out of here?”

“I would if I could. Nick blocked out my thoughts. So whenever anyone asks where you are, my mind will completely blank and I just won’t know.”

“What? He can do that?”

“It’s something only a maker can do to a make. When a make gets old enough they can break it … but I’m too young still. And I will be for at least another forty seven years.” Louis looked down and pulled his blanket back over himself. There was a long stretch of silence before Niall spoke again. “Get some sleep, okay? I’ll be back tomorrow night at the latest, but if I can get away again I’ll come back before sunrise.”

“Okay.” Then he was alone again. He forced himself to fall asleep and didn’t let himself cry. Maybe the next day would bring a better experience. He could only hope.

 

It didn’t.

There were four hundred and three tally marks underneath Niall’s name and that was finally the thing that made Louis cry. Niall brought him some juice and toast right before the sun came up, but he apologized and said he had to go fast because the sun was going to rise any moment and he would die if he was caught in the light.

Louis scratched in a second tally, and then a third, and then his fifth and the days were all blending together like they were meaningless. Niall came by once or twice every day, but other than that, there was nothing. He was lonely and scared and _tired_ even if most of his days were filled with sleeping.

 

It was on his eighth tally mark that Nick finally came in to his box. The vampire stared down at him with an icy glare. “Stand up.” He said and Louis blinked a few times before he complied. It wasn’t quite sun down yet and Nick was standing out in the sun, so all of Louis’ previous thoughts about him being young were tossed out. “Come with me.” The vampire grabbed his arm and dragged him outside. There were traces of snow on the ground and the water seeped through the bottoms of his socks, making him shiver.

It was a short walk until he was taken inside of a small home, but the warmth was immediately welcomed. His skin prickled under the sudden change of temperature, but he felt better immediately from the heat.

“I want you to shower and change your clothes. You have thirty minutes to finish, because as soon as your thirty minutes are up, you’re going back outside even if you’re naked.” Louis nodded and followed the vampire back to the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

The clock on the wall said it was six pm, so he just turned the water on and waited for it to warm up. He turned it as hot as he could bare against his skin just to feel that much welcomed warmth once again – but he was aware that he had a time limit, so he quickly washed his hair and body and tried to scrub all of the dirt and grime that came from not showering for over a week from his body.

He felt much better by the time he stepped out at six fifteen. But a glance around the room showed that his clothes were missing and there was a massive panic welling up in his throat. He had fifteen minutes to be dressed and ready or else Nick was going to drag him out into the cold naked. That was something he knew he wasn’t going to survive. He would certainly freeze to death if all he had was that blanket.

He wrapped three towels around his body – one around his waist, one around the top half of his body, and one for his hair, and stepped out of the bathroom. There was no one in the hallway and the panic suddenly felt much worse. He was alone and had less than fifteen minutes to find some clothes – preferably his own – or he was fucked.

He heard a soft beeping in the room across the bathroom and hesitantly opened the door to see Niall sprawled out in his bed in the same way he used to sleep. The beeping was his alarm clock and Louis finally felt a wave of relief wash over him. “Niall.” He whispered, but there was no response. “Niall.” He said louder and the vampire only shuffled. “Niall!” He finally said louder and he jerked awake, looking over to Louis and jumping.

“Lou?! What the fuck? How – what are you – does Nick know you –“

“Yeah. He um. Let me shower. And said I had until 6:30 to be ready to be taken back outside. He took my clothes, though.”

“Okay. You can borrow some of mine, of course.” The vampire got out of bed and tossed Louis two t-shirts and a jumper, as well as some joggers and sweats. “Layer it up, my friend. It’s supposed to be very, very cold this week. I have a coat, too.” He went into the closet and pulled out a coat that seemed about as thick as the one he’d had on before, but it would work. Then he threw some socks over, too, and Louis put everything on, shameless of the fact that he was naked in front of Niall for a few moments.

“Thank you, Ni. I was so scared I was going to have to go out there with nothing.”

“I hope this is some kind of first step to proving that I really do care about you, Lou. I wouldn’t let him harm you anymore if there was any way I could stop it.”

“I know, Ni. I’m sorry I blamed you before.”

“It’s okay. Go on, though. It’s 6:29.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later.” Niall nodded and Louis went out of his room, seeing Nick with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You’re more clever than I thought. But a deal is a deal, let’s go.” Louis allowed himself to be taken outside once again, and when the door closed behind him, he didn’t feel the same dread he’d felt every other time. Instead he was just numb. But it felt better to know Niall was on his side.

 

It was five more tally marks later when Louis felt like he was going to die. He had a terrible, terrible headache. He hadn’t had anything to drink or eat in four days, and he hadn’t heard from Niall in four days, either.

Instead, he’d seen Nick almost every day. The vampire came in and just talked to him, asked him odd questions to make sure that he wasn’t going to just zone out and become unaware of his surroundings.  
He wasn’t.

Not yet.

He’d almost been here for two weeks, and that meant that Harry and his flight to visit back home before they were off to France was leaving in two days. Harry had two days to find him, or Louis had two days to escape before he’d be trapped here forever, same as Niall. It was an unpleasant thought.

“Tomorrow’s your first day being my new businesses first little fuckfeeder.” Louis winced. Nick had spent the last two days reminding him of what he was going to become – and it was unsettling. He was slowly starting to lose hope that he’d ever leave this little box with his head still normal and his emotions still in tact. It was scary to think that Nick had complete control over him now. “I can’t wait to see how much money you make me, pet.” The vampire grabbed his chin and forced him to look at him, one thing that Louis hated more than anything else. But he’d gotten used to it.

Nick did it often, so it stopped bothering him.

He was not looking forward to the next night – to when he’d become what he’d always thought he would be. But he’d gotten used to his life of happiness with Zayn and Harry.

“If you’re good, I’ll bring you some food and water. But that means you have to speak to me. I won’t put up with you if you’re a mute.”

“Okay.” He said softly and tried to ignore the fact that Nick was smirking. He let the vampire win that time – but it was only because he had to look out for himself. There was no other reason he’d ever want to let the vampire win. He just wanted to leave.

 

“Hey, how are you holding up?” Niall asked, coming in later that night. Empty handed. He hated that Nick broke his promises.

“I want to go home.”

“I know. But it’ll be okay.”

“No, it won’t. People are going to come and – they’re going to rape me, Niall. I don’t – I don’t want that. I don’t want anyone to touch me.”

“I know, Lou. I know. But it’s just – it’s just what you have to do to survive, okay? If you put up with it long enough… maybe you can earn his trust and find a way out of here.” Louis’ eyes filled with tears all over again. He didn’t want any of this – he didn’t ask for any of this. It was unnerving and terrifying. But maybe Niall was right – if he _had_ to put up with it, he might be able to make an escape later on. He just hoped it didn’t take four hundred days like Niall seemed to have taken.

“I hope so, Ni.”

“Nick’s coming, but I’ll come see you later.”

“Okay.” He said with a small smile and sighed as the darkness covered him once again.

“Do you hear that?” He heard Nick ask Niall. That was the only good part about this metal box he’d been in. He could hear everything on the outside since the walls were so thin. It made snooping and listening in on anything he could hear pretty easy.

“Yeah, I think I heard footsteps. Did you invite someone over?”

“No, you idiot. Of course I didn’t.” Nick said, anger obvious in his tone. “I’m going to watch Louis. Tell whoever it is to go away.” The door opened and Nick came in once again, this time closing and locking the door behind him.

“Okay.” Niall said to no one. Louis could feel the sadness in his voice. It was silent for a long while as Nick came and pulled Louis into his lap. Louis hated being so close to the vampire – hated being so close to anyone he didn’t like – but he wasn’t going to dare voice his thoughts.

Then he heard Niall’s voice again and his entire world snapped back into focus.

“Oh! Hi Harry. I thought I heard something. Can I help you with something?” He heard Niall ask from outside of the wall and the tears welled up in his eyes. Nick’s hand was firm over his mouth and a knife to his throat suddenly as he listened to Harry and Niall outside.

“Where’s Louis, Niall? I know you know where he is.” Harry sounded angry – sounded like he was tired, too. Louis understood.

“I – I don’t know where he is. I’m – the last I saw him was when I was at your house with you and him. It’s kind of inconvenient to go all the way from here to your house any other time. I was actually hoping him and I could see each other again – cause I really miss him. But - ” Harry interrupted the younger vampire. His voice was still stern and anger was still obvious.

“See, there’s this funny thing about being older than five hundred, Niall. I can tell when you’re lying, and you’re lying right through your teeth to me right now. So tell me the truth, or I’ll make this much less pleasant for you than you’d like.”

“I can’t. I’m – I’m sorry.”

“Nick blocked your thoughts, didn’t he?” Niall was silent after that, but Louis could imagine he was nodding. “It’s okay – I know you’re still young and he – _fuck._ Okay.” He could hear the gravel moving under Harry’s boots. It was the worst feeling to know he was so close but Louis probably wouldn’t be saved. “I’m just going to ask you questions and if they’re not blocked, I expect you to answer me, okay? You’re safe. I’m not letting him touch you.”

“Please I just – I can’t.” Niall sounded like he was really afraid, and Louis winced as the blade shifted against his skin, the sting obvious in the way it had broken skin.

“It’s okay – you’re going to be okay. I’ve dealt with this before, I know how to make it not hurt you.” Then there was a pause. “Is Louis alive?”

“Yes.” Niall said softly.

“Is he on this property?”

“I don’t know.” Niall’s voice sounded shaky, like he was scared. Nick’s other hand was on Louis’ side, and the grip was so hard it felt like it was bruising. He seemed angry, too.

“Okay. Is he with someone you and I are both familiar with?”

“Yes.”

“Is he outside?”

“Yes.”

“Is he nearby?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you, Niall. Stay with me, alright? I promise he won’t hurt you.” Harry sounded like he was being so reassuring to Niall, even if he’d just been angry a few moments earlier. But Louis understood where Harry was coing from – he’d thought it was Niall’s fault a few moments before, but not he knew it wasn’t. Louis had done the same thing, so he just hoped Harry knew it wasn’t Niall who did this to him.

“My head hurts.”

“I know. Breaking a block can hurt sometimes, I’m not going to break it the rest of the way without your permission, though.”

“Soon. Not now.”

He could hear more rustling outside of the room, and then there was silence. “If you move a muscle or make a single noise, I’ll make you watch me torture Niall before I kill you.” Was whispered in his ear and more tears welled in his eyes.

 _Harry! I’m here! I’m alive! Nick has me in a metal box!_ He tried to think those words over and over again – just on the off chance that Harry could hear his thoughts. But knew Harry had to be actively focusing on hearing his thoughts to be able to, so it was a stretch. But he could hope. He hoped more than anything that Harry would be able to hear him.

The vampire took his hand away from his mouth and Louis immediately scooted as far away as he could get. Nick opened the door as quietly as he could and then he was alone again. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Louis couldn’t hear the crackling of Harry’s boots anymore and it made him feel sick – like he’d just left and accepted the fact that he wasn’t coming back.

Another deep breath.

Three.

Two.

One.

“Harry! Harry I’m in here!” He yelled out, but his voice was hoarse and didn’t come out as strongly as he’d hoped it would have. He tried again. “Harry!” It came out a little louder that time, but the lack of water he’d had the last few days was taking its toll on his voice.

But the crackling of the boots was back and Louis’ heart sped up with the anticipation of being free.

“Lou?” Harry asked, the door opening just a moment after his name. “Louis, Lou, oh my God.” He paused and Louis ran over to him, immediately pulling the vampire into a hug and holding him tightly. “Did he hurt you? Are you okay? You look so thin - have you eaten?”

“I’m okay for now Harry. Please. Just. Take me home.”

“Not yet. I have to deal with Nick.” Louis nodded, but he didn’t let go of Harry. He wasn’t going to let go of him for a long time. Harry picked him up and then they were moving at the quick speed that made Louis’ head spin, but it felt good. It felt good to feel _safe._ “Nick! Get out here _now!_ Be a man and own up to your mistakes.” He was met with silence, nothing but the quiet natural sounds surrounding them. “I’ll send Zayn to find you – and if he gets word about what you did to Louis, I have a feeling he’ll be much less lenient than I’m going to be. Come out!”

There was silence for a moment.

“You took the man I loved from me, Harry. So I took the man you loved. It seemed fair. The only difference is you _killed_ mine! And you think I’m going to let you punish me for getting revenge? Funny, funny.” Louis held tighter on to Harry.

“I’m sorry, love. Stay with Niall for just a minute, alright?” Harry said and set Louis down, but Niall put an arm around his shoulders to replace the touch. He looked over to Harry – he’d managed to get over to Nick and had him pushed against the side of his house.

“He’s going to kill him.” Niall said, but Louis couldn’t quite read what his tone meant.

“Are you happy?”

“Yeah – I’m – I’ll finally be free. He won’t be able to hold me anymore.” Louis smiled softly and turned away. He didn’t want to watch Harry kill someone, didn’t want to see anything terrible anymore. He just wanted to be happy.

There was a loud _crack_ noise, and then silence.

“Ouch – oh _fuck!”_ Niall said and fell down, his arm around Louis’ shoulders pulling him down, too. “That – oh, God, that hurts.”

“Harry! What’s happening?” He yelled out, panicking at the sight of Niall on the ground, holding his head, in front of him.

“He’ll be okay. Their bond is breaking.” Niall was sobbing, curled up in a ball. “That’s why a make and a maker have to stay in contact, because if the maker is separated from their make for long, it hurts.” Harry sat on the ground beside Niall and touched the back of his hand to his forehead. “Niall, can you stand? I know it hurts, but you’re gonna be fine. If you walk with me, it’ll dull the pain a little.” Niall stood and Harry took Louis’ hand as the three of them went back to Harry’s car.

Louis felt safe.

He was so lucky to have Harry with him.

As he slid into the still heater-warmed space of the passenger seat of the car, he finally let himself cry. Harry rubbed a hand in circles over his back and pressed affectionate kisses to the top of his head and let him cry. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you sooner. I’m so sorry I left you alone and let this happen. I’m so sorry, Lou. I promise I’ll never let anything like that ever happen again.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Harry. Please. It was Nick – I don’t ever want you to blame yourself.”

“I know you don’t Lou, but I can’t help but think that you could have been so much safer if I just hadn’t left you home alone that night. From now on I want you to come with me, okay?”

“Okay.” Louis sniffled. “Are you okay, Ni?” He asked after a moment, when his tears finally stopped coming.

“I’m – alright.” The blond vampire said, but he was tucked over in the backseat, his head resting on his lap. “Harry, you said you can make this stop? Please? It hurts.”

“Of course. But you need to know what you’re doing entirely if you let me stop it, okay? If you let me stop it, I’ll replace the hold Nick had over you as a maker. Are you sure you want that? If you don’t, the pain will ease up within a few days on it’s own. I want to make sure you’re making the right decision.”

“I think – I think I want that, Harry. I don’t want Nick’s bad thoughts about humans in my head anymore. I like how you live more.” Niall looked up, finally, and gave a pained smile. Louis could tell he’d been crying still from the red rims around his eyes.

“Okay.” Harry climbed in the back and Louis leaned his head against the window. The heater was on and warm air was blowing on his face. He closed his eyes to give Niall and Harry their moment of privacy – and the first decent sleep he’d had in over two weeks finally took over.

 

When he woke up, he was in bed and Harry had his fingers running through his hair. He hadn’t realized he’d been crying in his sleep until he felt the wetness under his eyes and saw the concerned expression on Harry’s face. “I’m okay. It was just a dream.” Louis said softly and Harry gave a sad smile.

“I know. But it hurts me to see you so sad.”

“It’s just something I’ll have to work through, Haz. I’ll figure it out. I know it’s not going to happen again, and I know I’m here with you, so I’ll be okay.”

“Okay.”

“Did you sleep at all?”

“No, not really.”

“Sleep with me some more?”

“Okay.” Louis curled closer into Harry’s side and let himself enjoy the warmth of Harry’s arms wrapped around him. Maybe his head was a little tangled up in his thoughts for now, but he knew he’d be okay. He’d be able to get through this and he’d be able to go back to how he was before.

 

“I’m leaving.” Niall said softly over dinner that night. The three of them were sat on the couch in front of the fireplace.

“What?” Louis asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“I’m – I’m going to go back to London. And I’m going to try and find Ed. The one that took me from the facility.” Niall gave a sad smile. “Nick took me away from him and – I haven’t seen him since. I want to see him again.” Louis nodded.

“We’re going back to London come sunset.” Harry said softly. “Would you like to come along with us? Or would you like to go on your own time?”

“Could I come with you two?”

“Of course.” Harry said with a soft smile. “I owe you an awful lot for keeping Louis safe and I’m sorry I mistrusted you at the beginning. I shouldn’t have assumed you were like all of the other young vampires I’ve seen. I’d like to make that up to you.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad you care for him enough to do something like that.” Niall made eye contact with Louis and they both smiled.

Maybe they’d be okay sooner than he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> debate question: is having sex with a vampire considered necrophilia? 
> 
> Also: I had this entire chapter typed up by saturday night, but the porn part took the longest. It takes me insane amounts of time to write sex. :p


	8. VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home. Love. Quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At 8:00pm, I had 342 words of this chapter written. At 11:00pm, I had 7,294. At 9:31 am, I ended with 10,918. I'm proud of myself.

_Wishing on a star that's just a satellite_

_Driving in a car with broken tail-lights_

_Growing up with eyes glued shut_

Satellite – All Time Low

 

If there’s one thing Louis hates, as he’s recently realized, is packing. He hates that he has one suitcase to keep everything he owns in while he’s set to travel across the country. But at the same time, it’s somewhat soothing. It’s nice to be able to look at everything that has meaning in his life and everything that he uses on a daily basis that make him who he is.

Harry, however, does _not_ hate packing. He folds everything up neatly and somehow makes everything he has (which is a _lot)_ fit into a suitcase the same size as his own. It’s like – some kind of fucking vampire magic trick. “You should do this for me. I hate packing.”

“Sure. Just set everything you want to take on top of it and I’ll get it all in there.” Harry says with a smile.

“Of course you will. You, apparently, have a lot of experience getting a lot into small spaces.” Harry’s eyebrows raise up and Louis chokes on his own spit when he realizes exactly what he just said. “You know what – you and your little ego can stay up here, Styles. I’m going to make some tea.” Harry wiggles his eyebrows and Louis goes downstairs with a still embarrassment-hot face.

“Hey, Lou.” Niall says, hunched over the table over a phone.

“Hey Ni. What’s up?”

“I’m trying to find Ed on social media.” Louis quirks an eyebrow. “It’s – never mind. I don’t even know how to explain it. But he’s not anywhere. It’s like he doesn’t even exist.”

“Harry could probably find him for you. If you wanted.”

“Yeah, right. He’s one person in some nine billion. There’s no way.”

“You know, that’s exactly what I said when he managed to track down my family, but he’s got quite the set of connections.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah I’ll tell you about that later. I’m really – I’m still not entirely ready to talk about it yet.”

“Okay. Well, would you ask Harry if he could? I just – I really. I really want to see him. Even if it’s just to say hello.”

“Of course I can, Ni. You underestimate how incredible of a friend I am.”

“Oi, don’t talk yourself up until you can deliver, Tomlinson!” He was laughing as he found his way over to the burner to set up a cuppa. He poured in enough water for three cups, but if Harry asked, it would just be coincidence that he made some for the vampire, too.

 

When Harry comes down, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he kisses Louis softly right on his lips and – Louis certainly doesn’t _mind_ the affection, but he’s curious. “What’s gotten into you, love?”

“I found this.” Harry presses a little paper into his hand and – Louis freezes. It was the one drawing of Harry that Louis had kept to himself, kept away from the world because it was private. It was a sketch of Them together with kids – a family, all together and eating at a dinner table in an entirely fictional home. Louis’ face burned with further embarrassment. “When did you draw it?”

“A few weeks ago.” He says, breathes out a soft breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and Harry kisses him again.

“Why?”

“I don’t – I don’t know. You know, I never thought – it’s complicated, really – I never thought that I would ever want kids ‘cause this world is kind of fucked. The separation of vampires and humans and all that. But the way I can see your passion for human rights and everything – it kind of gives me hope for a future where I can see myself wanting and being happy with a family.”

“Thank you for sharing that with me, Louis.” Louis doesn’t tense like he thought he would have. He doesn’t resent the fact that Harry doesn’t admit he doesn’t want the same. But everything is alright because he didn’t expect him to. He doesn’t expect Harry to share the same desires as his because they’re so _human_.

 

Harry retires to bed about thirty minutes after the three of them all share their tea – but Louis and Niall stay up. They don’t talk much about anything – little bursts of conversation in and out as the silence starts to fill more gaps than the conversation does. It feels normal – like it’s back to how things were when they were both human.

For the first time in a while, Louis allows himself to go into that dark part of his mind where he _thinks._

He lets himself think about his family. He lets himself imagine how his father must resent the fact that he has to listen to the vampire who chose him, that he has to hear about him in the streets between whispered secrets and rumors of _the_ Harry Styles having a human _boyfriend_ instead of a pet. He lets himself think about how his family was never really a family, and how blood doesn’t decide who he loves. He loves Liam, looks up to him as both a father and a best friend. He loves Zayn, looks up to him like he imagines he would a much older, wiser brother. He loves Harry, but Harry has a different kind of love. He thinks about the fact that his sister was allowed to stay with his biological family while he was tossed away; but with that thought comes the knowledge that the girl feels guilty for it. It’s a strange feeling, an odd twist in his stomach as he thinks about the fact that he can’t bring himself to resent his sister for it – because it really wasn’t her fault that they chose her over him. He knows that one day, with a little building and effort, she could probably find a place in his heart as well.

For the first time in so long, he lets himself dwell on the love he feels and the love he receives.

It’s all the things that he never let himself think about before, but once he lets himself think and process and _feel_ everything that he’d been refusing to let himself feel his entire life, there’s a weight lifted off of his shoulders that he hadn’t realized had been there. He doesn’t realize he’s crying until there’s a hand on his back, rubbing gentle cirlces.

“It’s okay, Lou.” Niall’s voice says and he nods.

“I know. Everything is perfect.” The vampire smiles because for the first time, Louis is genuine when he says he’s happy with his life.

 

Louis sleeps the entire plane ride this go around, and he’s grateful for it. Harry had retired to bed early, but he and Niall decided to stay up the entire time so they would sleep through the flight. Flying, Louis had decided, was not something he particularly enjoyed. The travelling he did, but the getting there was the part he didn’t like.

So, curling up in Harry’s lap for the entire flight and sleeping didn’t seem to bother the vampire one bit. Louis loved him for it.

He didn’t wake up until Harry was tapping him on the shoulder lightly, placing a little kiss to the top of his head and trying to ease him out of sleep. The pilot had turned on the seatbelt light, so he had to get in his own seat as they got ready to land.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Louis asked, the pet-name slipping past his tongue easily.

“Of course. Would have slept better if you were with me, though. Did you sleep at all? Or did you just catch up for the flight?”

“Not this time. Wanted to sleep through this.” Louis smiled softly and placed a kiss on Harry’s cheek. He was so, so happy. Going home was only the icing on the cake for him in that moment. He was so comfortable around Harry, so comfortable with his life. He felt safe and _happy._

“Harry?” Niall asked – the anxiety clear in his voice.

“Yeah?” The older vampire asked, Louis furrowed his eyebrows and looked over to his friend.

“It’s – is it light out? I’m –“

“It’s alright, Niall. I planned it so the sun will just be going down when we get off. We can stay in the terminal for a little while so there’s no light, then when it’s completely dark we can go outside. I wouldn’t do that to you, I promise.” Niall smiled and nodded. Louis’ heart swelled in his chest with admiration for Harry. He loved how much thought he put into everything, always trying to make everyone happy around him.

Louis leaned his head on Harry’s shoulder from his own seat. The smell of Harry’s cologne was faint, now, after such a long flight, but it was still there and it made Louis feel safe, cared for, comfortable. Harry ran his fingers through his hair and Louis drifted off again. The captain announced that low visibility would keep them from landing for about fifteen extra minutes, so Louis took his time in napping.  

 

Zayn greeted them at the gate by wrapping Louis up in a tight hug that took the air from his lungs and spun him around. Louis laughed, putting his arms around the vampire as well and allowing himself to be comfortable with being wrapped up against the familiar vampire. “Harry told me what happened. I was so, so worried Lou. So worried.” Zayn had tears in his eyes and Louis was quick to wipe them away with the pads of his thumbs once he was set down. “I’m so glad you’re okay. God – I’m so, so happy you’re okay.”

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks mom.” Zayn cracked a smile, but he was so happy that he felt so loved. “I’m glad it went the way it did, too. I was so scared, Zee. I didn’t know if I’d ever see anyone ever again.”

“I can imagine. How are you holding up?”

“I still dream about it, but I know it’s over now.”

“You can sleep in my bed all you want, okay? Liam was just as worried as I was, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind keeping you hostage with us for a while.”

“Harry would probably mind.” Louis said with a little giggle.

“He’s right. You’re not taking my Lou from me.” Harry said, slipping an arm around his waist. Zayn rolled his eyes and Harry took the dark-haired vampire into a hug. “I missed you, you little pain in my arse.” He could tell that Harry was just joking (sarcasm being something he’d certainly picked up on from Zayn) and couldn’t help but crack a small smile.

“Oi, those are some fighting words old man!” Harry grabbed Zayn and

****

_It was dark and cold all over again. Something smelled slightly of rusting metal and his fingers were numb. There was a tinge of blood in his mouth and he realized it was his own, bit raw from the insides of his cheek. The wound stung and everything just tasted like the copper in his mouth._

_A door creaked open with a loud squeal, a noise Louis couldn’t pinpoint until he realized where he was. He was back in his cell – in his little metal room that had kept him a prisoner for so long. With the door came three men – vampires – and they all came over with confident strides as the door closed behind them._

_Two overhead lights came on and – Louis hadn’t even known they were there – but he didn’t like that he could see the inside. He could see faint traces of blood covering the door, now, and a hand print with the red liquid that made him want to throw up._

_“So_ you’re _our little plaything for the night, then?” One of the vampires said. Louis tried to scoot away – tried to move – but he was stuck in place. The walls were suddenly closing in on him, making the threatening figures come closer and closer until none of them were more than six inches away from him, with no room for movement besides onto the bed which – he didn’t want._

_He screamed._

_But no sound came out. Instead, more blood filled his mouth and then there were fingers in his mouth, too, and he didn’t want it._

_“Little fuck feeder, are ye? Piece of garbage little slut. All humans are good for.” One of them said, irish accent stuck in his head._

_“Oh shut up and just get on with it, would you? I really don’t want to waste anymore time than we have to with it. He’s just here for us to fuck, yeah? Not worth makin’ him scared.”_

_“’spose you’re right. But it’s kind of fun to play with your food, innit?” The first one said and reached for Louis’ pants. “Your little vampire dick head of a boyfriend isn’t here to save ye now, is ‘e? Funny how he makes all these rules and he can’t enforce, em.” All three of them laughed bitterly and Louis squeezed his eyes shut. “Maybe if yer good for us tonight, we won’t drain ye so much that you’ll be too weak. But you gotta earn that.”_

_“Oi! Don’t give ‘im false hope. I’m taking what I want.”_

He woke up screaming for the first time in his life.

Louis thought that the comfort of being surrounded by Harry and the familiar settings would have made him feel more at ease as he dreamt. But instead, the fear heightened and every sense in his body felt like it was so over-done.

Harry had him in his lap and Zayn was there, brushing fingers through his hair and Liam was at the edge of the bed with a concerned look on his face. He took a few moments to calm his breathing, pulled his knees up to his chest and just tried to clear his head.

“It was – I – I –“

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay, love. It was just a dream.” Louis held on to Harry tightly, as if he was going to disappear again and cried. Zayn rubbed his back and Liam had a hand on his shoulder. He was shaking, trembling in a way he’d never done before.

“Nothing that happened in my dream was even real.” He whispered, but he knew they could all hear him. He wasn’t trying to just talk to himself anymore. “Its just – it’s like what I knew was going to happen and – it’s just.”

“I know. I know.” Harry said softly.

“Zayn?”

“Yes?” The raven hair vampire asked softly. Louis wasn’t sure how he felt about having all of their attention on him felt normally, but in that moment he was grateful for it.

“Will you – do that thing? That you said you can do to make my head shut up?” Louis didn’t miss the way Zayn glanced over to Harry, but when his expression was still soft, he imagined Harry said yes.

“Of course. You know Harry can do it too though, right?”

“Yeah. You’ve done it before, though.” Zayn seemed to understand and just nodded before he grabbed his wrist and bit down. Louis’ mind cleared all of a sudden, and he let himself slump against Harry’s chest all over again. He felt himself being moved, felt Harry’s arms being wrapped tighter around him and felt the bed moving beside him.

He opened his eyes and turned to look around. Zayn and Liam were on one side of the bed, Zayn’s hand still wrapped with Louis’. Harry must have agreed to let them all stay, and he felt at ease.

 

When he woke, he was sprawled half way on top of Harry and half way on top of Liam. Harry placed a little kiss on the top of his head and ran a hand in circles over his back. “They were all worried about you and decided to stay.”

“Thank you for letting them. I didn’t realize I needed that until I had it.” Harry nods.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t find you sooner.” His voice sounds strained, worried, tired. “I tried, I did, but I should have tried harder. Should have looked at Nick first – god dammit. I’m so sorry, Louis.”

“Harry, please don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” He moved slowly, trying not to wake Liam and Zayn as he did. He crawled up into Harry’s lap. “I knew from the beginning that you’d find me, that you’d come and save me. And you did. You saved me before anything truly awful happened to me, and for that I’m beyond grateful.” He kissed Harry’s nose. “And I know you’re beating yourself up inside of your head, but please don’t. Nick did everything right to keep me hidden, did everything right to keep you in the dark. It’s not your fault at all. He’s gone now and he can’t do it to me or anyone else ever again because of you. It happened, Harry, it’s done now. I’m going to manage to work through it and you’re going to have to help me do that by not blaming yourself, okay?”

“When did you get so wise? Aren’t you like, eleven?” Harry said with a little laugh and Louis smiled.

“Fighting words, Styles.” He said, mimicking what Zayn had said the day before. “Please don’t blame yourself.”

“I love you. I’m sorry if I’m taking your trauma and trying to twist it on me. I’m not trying to – I don’t want to make this about me at all. Because I know that was absolute Hell for you. I’m going to help you work through this, okay? You can always come to me if you need me.”

“Okay. Can we sleep for a while longer?”

“Of course.”

“You too, okay? I can tell you didn’t sleep.”

“Okay, okay. Good night my love.” _My love._ Louis preened under the new name.

“Good night, Harry.”

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come see you when you woke up.” Niall says over breakfast, chewing on his nails. “I tried, but then there was an open window and it was light.”

“It’s okay. The bed was pretty full anyway.”

“Man. I always miss the cuddle parties.” Niall says with a fake pout. Louis goes in to hug him in return, both of them laughing. “But in all seriousness, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I will be.” Louis smiles and Harry squeezes his thigh beneath the table. He takes the gesture as something meant to be calming.

“I’m glad, Lou.”

“Louis – you know how I said that I’d need to be somewhat old to be able to handle you as a kid?” Liam chimes in after a moment. Harry looks over to him with a somewhat glare and Louis quirks an eyebrow. “Well theres this new kid here now, right, and she’s seven. A complete _menace._ God, I’d rather take care of seven young Louis’ than her. So, I take my statement back.”

“You know, a funny looking vampire once told me that karma likes to come bac much stronger than what was given out.” Liam glared and Louis grinned.

“I am not funny looking.”

“Yeah, you’re not babe. I like how you look.” Zayn says with a grin. Louis and Niall start making gagging noises at the same time and everything feels so perfectly domestic in the moment that he doesn’t want anything to change, ever.

 

“Louis, love.” Harry says softly, coming up behind Louis as he brushes his teeth and gets ready for bed.

“Hm?” He asks through a mouthful of toothpaste, meeting Harry’s eyes in the mirror.

“I’m going out. Will you be okay for a few hours by yourself?” Louis furrows his eyebrows and spits into the sink, runs the water to clear his mess and rinses his toothbrush.

“Where are you going?”

“I um, I have to eat.” Louis blinks. There’s a weird feeling in his stomach that he can’t quite pinpoint.

“Harry you could –“ He says softly, a suggestion that he can’t really believe is falling past his own lips. But as it does, it feels natural and right. It feels like something that, despite the fact that he’d feared it for his entire life, he should be doing. He trusts Harry with every piece of himself, trusts the vampire with his life in a way he’d never trusted anyone else before and it feels good to be able to trust someone so entirely.

“No, Louis. I’m not going to.” Harry says, cutting him off. Anger bubbles in Louis’ stomach, then. Another feeling he can’t pinpoint or identify the cause of, but it’s there and he can’t explain why it’s so strong.

“Well why not?”

“Just – because. Okay? I’m not going to. I’m going out. I’ll see you later.” Harry’s voice is completely flat – not a single trace of emotion anywhere in his statement and Louis swears he could feel his heart break.

“No, Harry. You don’t get to just walk away like that. Not without giving me an answer.”

“I don’t _have_ to give you anything.” Harry says with sneer in his voice and Louis shuts down – feels himself deflate entirely and his cheeks burn. He stares at Harry for a moment before he leaves the bathroom without another word.

Sometimes it was hard to be put back in his place, to remember what his place in the world is.

The embarrassment is so obvious in his chest – shame bubbling up and forcing it’s way to his cheeks to show in the form of a blush. It’s so hard to have the reality smack him in the face, to be reminded that he is just a human who is in a house of vampires who own him – much like a lamp, or a piece of furniture.

But when he does finally remember, it all comes crashing back in waves and waves of guilt and self hatred. He leaves the room and goes downstairs – gets himself the glass of water he always gets before bed when he takes the time to get ready in case he gets thirsty in the night and goes to his own bedroom. His heart is beating harder than normal, anxiety building in his fingertips. He’s never been able to tell why he gets _nervous_ of all things when he’s embarrassed, but it’s just another emotion he had to deal with.

Opening his bedroom door makes him feel worse, though. Another reminder of all the time he’s been spending with Harry. His own bedroom feels rather uncomfortable and unfamiliar. Immediately, there’s an urge to crawl back into Harry’s bed and make himself comfortable again.

But he doesn’t.

There’s a layer of dust on top of everything, but his bed is rumpled up in a way that suggests someone had slept in it in his absence. He grabs a shirt from his closet and wipes the dust away with the cloth and tosses it away to the side of the room.

When he lays down it smells somewhat of Zayn’s usual cologne and it’s a good reminder that he was missed when he was gone.

But he’s barely able to lay down for a few moments before the thoughts are in his head again – but this time they are unwelcomed. He doesn’t want to think about anything – just wants to sleep and forget and stop feeling like shit about something that shouldn’t even matter.

But of course, keeping himself from thinking has never been Louis’ strong point. He’s never done well with restricting himself from thinking about the things in his life. Maybe, though, maybe if he didn’t keep himself from thinking, he could process things better. Maybe if he hadn’t kept himself from the realities that presented themselves in his life throughout his existence, he would know how to deal with the things that troubled him. It was such a difficult thing to deal with. But once he started thinking, once the thoughts started swirling about in his head, it was nearly impossible to get them to stop.

_Harry doesn’t owe him anything._

He’s right. Louis had to build himself up, has to give himself a purpose because – yeah – that’s not Harry’s job. But that’s a hard reminder, a hard fact to come to terms with when Harry has been the source of his happiness for the last few months. He hears the front house door close and only then lets himself cry.

Barely a moment later, Niall is slipping into the room and closing the curtains tightly before slipping into bed beside him. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Okay. Now why don’t you tell me the truth.” Louis sighs softly.

“It’s stupid.”

“I’m sure it’s not.”

“Harry – he just. He said he has to go out to hunt, which is fine. I understand he has to eat. Everyone does. But I – I _offered_ that he could use me for it. And he turned me down. He wouldn’t even give me a reason.” Niall sighs softly and runs his fingers through Louis’ hair. “You know how much I’ve always been so – terrified of being fed from, Ni. You heard me moan about it for years. But I just love him so much, and I want to show him that so I offered him something so –“

“Personal.”  Niall says softly. He’s heard this all before, heard how much Louis thinks that interactions between vampires and humans are meant to be personal and intimate because they appear to be just that. But now it shows that Harry doesn’t have those same views. He’d rather go and feed from a stranger than take Louis’ intimate gesture. It makes his heart feel tight.

“Yeah. And he just. Turned me down and wouldn’t even tell me why!” Louis was crying again, hot tears running down his cheeks as Niall wiped them away. “I don’t know how else I’m supposed to show him I love him. He does all of this for me – provides for me, gives me everything I want, we’re going to travel the world together and I can’t give him _anything_ in return. I want to – I want to give him _something_ and I don’t know what else I can do.”

“I know, Lou. I know. And I’m sure Harry knows that too, somewhere deep down. But maybe if you talk to him about it, tell him how personal and intimate it was for you to be able to offer that to him, maybe it will show him even more than the actual act would have.”

“Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”

“You’re still cross with him, aren’t you?”

“He’s _infuriating!”_ He says through a groan, muffled with his face buried in a pillow. “I don’t understand him most of the time.”

“That’s not true, Lou. You and him understand each other in so many ways that it’s kind of disturbing. You’re just cross with him so you’re going to convince yourself that there are more reasons to be angry.”

“God, shut up Niall. I didn’t ask for your wisdom.” Niall laughs. “Will you rub my back?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Niall says with an over-exaggerated sigh. But Louis tugs his shirt off and lets Niall get to work with rubbing his muscles relaxed and falls asleep somewhere in the middle of it. He feels good with Niall with him. He’s grateful that he has a friend so willing to listen to his whining even when there’s nothing really valid about it. Maybe he needs to just quit being so emotional.

 

He wakes up a while later and his bed is empty, but Harry is sitting in the chair by his window.

It feels so – he isn’t sure. It feels like he’s taken a massive step back with Harry – like there’s a barrier between them and his stomach feels tight. “I’m sorry for what I said.” Harry says softly, but he knows Louis can hear him. Of course he does. “I didn’t – I don’t owe you anything, Lou. I want to give you everything. The way I said it though, it was wrong and cruel and self-centered. I’m sorry.” Louis shuffles down in bed, pulls the duvet up to be tucked right under his chin the same way he’d always done when he was scared as a child.

“Niall said –“ Louis tenses, suddenly aware of how real he’d been with Niall and how afraid he is of Harry knowing that deep secret about him. “He said that I was a real ass for what I said, and at first I didn’t really see why. Because – I don’t know. But then Zayn caught word of it and he’s been giving me these dirty looks.” Harry laughs softly, but there’s no humor in it. Louis can tell he’s wallowing in his guilt. “So I thought about it a little and they’re both right. I shouldn’t have done that. So I wanted to ask you how I can make it better.”

“It’s alright, Harry. It’s in the past.”

“No, Lou. Please. I want to know how I can fix it.” Louis sighs softly.

“Come lay down with me.” Harry stands and walks to the bed slowly, climbs in beneath the covers and pulls Louis into his arms. He hadn’t really invited Harry to do that, but it felt good. It felt really good to have Harry so close to him again, even though he was still a little angry with him. “When I was a kid, growing up in that facility, I always thought I was going to end up living with some shoddy vampire who would keep me tied up in their basement and only come find me when they were hungry, maybe if they wanted a quick fuck.” Louis says softly. He’s not really talking to Harry at this point. He knows well enough that if he was trying to tell Harry this, he’d freeze up. So he’s speaking to the room around him, letting the words flit off into the darkness. “So, naturally, things like sex and being fed from terrified me. They still do, sometimes, if I dream about when I was a child and wake up not really sure of where I am.” Harry must know he’s not saying all of his directly to him, because he doesn’t respond. “So I offered that to you – something I’ve always been so – _scared_ of because I care about you, and I want to give you something and I want to be able to give you something back after all you’ve given me.” He takes a shaky breathe. “So, being turned down like that without – without even a reason, when I allowed myself to be so vulnerable just – it hurt. And I don’t expect you to have known any of this, because I don’t like to open up, but now you know.” Harry is silent for a few moments longer.

“I’m sorry, Lou. I could sense in that moment that you were hurt, but I didn’t know why. Thank you for sharing that with me. Do you still want a reason?” Louis hesitates but nods. Harry nuzzles his nose up against the pulse point of his neck, stays there for a moment and doesn’t speak. But Louis knows he will, trusts that he will go through with what he’s said he’ll give. “I’ve always thought it was dirty that vampires have to eat humans to survive. It’s like – taking something from someone, literally _stealing_ their life out of them. Because you know that for every pint of blood a vampire takes from you, even with time given to fully heal afterwards, it takes up to three years off of your human life, right?” Louis’ breath hitches. He hadn’t known that. “And I know that you have this – resentment towards vampires. I know you do – whether it’s because of your father or just because of the separation – I know it’s there and I don’t expect you to ever decide to change for me. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll only get to love you temporarily, so I don’t want to steal even a moment of your life away from you for selfish reasons of not wanting to leave the house.” Louis takes a deep breath.

“I didn’t – I hadn’t thought of it that way. Thank you for telling me that and I’m not angry with you anymore.” Harry kisses the top of his head. “I don’t know if I’ll let you change me or not, Harry. But maybe I will. Don’t resign me to dead just yet.”

“We’ll figure it out when we get there.” Harry says softly. Louis can tell it’s a soft spot for the vampire – something he doesn’t want to discuss, so he lets it drop. “I’d like to sleep now, though.”

“Do you want to stay here or go back to your room?”

“What would you like, love?”

“Yours, please. I miss it already.” Harry laughs softly and picks him up, carries him down the hall and tucks him back in bed. Louis smiles again – cuddles up into Harry’s chest when the vampire settles into bed beside him. He feels better, he’s happy again.

 

The days went by. Soon, they morphed into weeks and Louis was slowly starting to feel the same comforts he’d once had with home all over again. He could sleep in bed easily, comfortably (even if it was Harry’s bed) and he’d even been granted some extra freedoms that he hadn’t had before.

Niall had spent the last month teaching him to read as Harry started finding work around the London area to keep occupied in. Louis knew they’d have to pack up eventually, he knew the time would come when they’d get the chance to travel the world all over again and new experiences and chances and oprotunities would come all over again. He’d happily come to terms with the fact that he’d never get the chance to really settle down and enjoy life in one place.

But, then again, he’d been bored out of his mind after four years of the same home, same walls, same routine. Perhaps he was an adventurer at heart, an explorer that just had to be given a taste of what it was like before he was able to really enjoy it.

 

“Lou, come down here please!” Harry called out from the bottom of the stairs, interrupting him and Niall’s reading session. He didn’t mind, though. He had plenty of time to learn to read. Plenty of time to do anything he wanted. So he gave his friend a little smile before he stood and made his way downstairs, into the kitchen. Harry was there with Zayn – the two of them standing side by side with these shit eating grins on their faces that made him feel – strange.

“Yeah?”

“Sit down, we have a surprise for you.” Louis furrowed his eyebrows but sat at the table nonetheless, crossed his legs and looked to the vampires. Zayn pulled an envelope from his bag and handed it over to Louis.

With an unsure look, he opened it and pulled out the little letter on the inside. The seal had already been broken, by one of the two of them he assumed, but inside there were a few key words that were underlined. (Harry knew he could get the gist of something if key words were highlighted, bless him).

Grant

Human 

Freedom 

Control 

His heart twisted in his chest, his stomach doing a little flip as his eyes filled with little tears. “You’re kidding.” He whispered softly.

“No. I’m not.” Harry sat beside him. “That’s your freedom, Lou. If you want to leave, you can. Zayn and I legally cannot keep you here under your will anymore.” Harry was smiling. “We wanted to give you the choice, wanted to give you the option to leave if you wanted to. You have nothing keeping you here except your own decisions now – which can change any time, there are no more contracts. I love you, Louis. But I want you to stay here and love me too because you want to – not because you feel like it’s the only chance you’ll ever get. You’re more than welcome to stay if that’s what you chose. We love you here, and we certainly haven’t been keeping you here all this time because we were lawfully obligated to. But if you –“ Harry paused, swallowing down the hurt in his voice that Louis could still sense, even if he tried to hide it. “If you do chose to leave, we’re willing to help you get settled, willing to help you adjust to a new life, too. So you won’t be on your own.” Harry had a hand on his thigh, the same comforting gesture that he’d always given.

“You –“ He let out a choked sob. The emotions suddenly overwhelming him as the tears rolled down his face in fat, wet, streams. “You’re truly the world’s biggest idiot if you think I’m going to leave you. You’re the love of my life, Harry. I love you so much, and free or not I wouldn’t give that up. Zayn, you’re like a brother to me. And thank you so much for giving me the chance to choose, both of you, but I’m not going anywhere.” They both pulled him into a tight hug and Harry kissed him when he pulled away from the embrace.

“You can tell Niall I found Ed, too, by the way.” Louis smiled, all of the emotions building up all at once. It was all so strong, almost too much, but still not enough. He was overwhelmed, but in the best way.

“I love you.” Was the only think he could think to say again, and Harry seemed to understand because just nodded, like he understood.

“You really found him?” Niall asked from the bottom of the stairway. He looked like he was shocked – something like a deer in headlights.

“Yes. I’m sorry it took so long, he doesn’t know many people apparently.”

“That sounds like the Ed I’m looking for.” Harry smiled softly. “Congrats, Lou.” He said and ruffled up Louis’ hair, making the human just roll his eyes.

“I ought to cook something garlic heavy. Just to make you all shut up for a while.” Zayn laughed.

“You’d get lonely.”

“You know what, sod off.” Louis said with a laugh. It was true. If he made the lot of them flee the house, he probably would get lonely. (It was funny, actually. One time he’d cooked a dish of pasta that was rather garlic heavy and Zayn had come down the stairs and run out the door immediately. He hadn’t cooked anything with even a small amount of it in the food since.)

“You guys are really the best family I could have ever asked for. Thank you all so much.”

“Sap.” Zayn said and Louis rolled his eyes.

“Way to ruin the moment, jerk.” Zayn tossed a wink in his direction, and Louis was so, _so_ happy.

 

Louis sat with Niall in the little shop that the blond boy had chosen to meet his old owner. Harry had decided to give the both of them some space – after he’d finally decided to trust Niall enough – and went to go do their weekly shopping while they were left to themselves. Niall was spinning his cup around and picking at his fingernails. He looked like a ball of nerves that Louis didn’t even want to try and comprehend.

“Fuck, fuck. I change my mind. What if he totally hates me? What if he never wants to see me again? What if he totally blames me and won’t –“

“Niall, even if that does happen, you’re still always going to have a place with Harry and I, alright? You might not have him, should he chose to leave you, but you’ll have me. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Niall was still chewing on his nails, going back and forth between that _clearly_ nervous habit and the twirling and twisting of the paper cup in front of him. It didn’t even look like he’d taken a single drink out of it, but rather just had it there to fiddle around with since he was so nervous. Louis understood, really, since he had some pretty obnoxious habits when he was nervous, too, but he would much rather have drank that tea in Niall’s cup rather than let him play with it until it got cold. But. It is what it is – no one gets the best of everything in the world, right?

“But he’d be a right fool if he chose to abandon you, Ni. You are pretty great, after all.” The blond vampire finally smiled.

“Yeah, I am.” Then he paused. “Oh, fuck. There he is!” Louis didn’t want to turn and make it obvious that they’d noticed that the other vampire had arrived, so he just gave his friend a soft, reassuring smile in a final attempt to calm his nerves.

“Niall?” A small voice said from beside the table and Louis finally got a chance to look over. He had bright red hair and a blue sweatshirt that made him look almost soft. He could see Niall’s appeal.

“Ed.” His friend said, voice already wrecked-sounding as tears pooled in his eyes. He stood up quickly and before Louis could even process what was happening, they were holding each other in a tight embrace. He smiled. “Sorry, sorry. This is Louis. My friend. Louis, this is Ed.”

“Take your time with your reuinion, mate. I’m gonna go make H let me buy a cake.” 

“Thanks, Lou.” Then he stood up and took his tea with him as he went over to the little case of cakes on display. There were a few people staring at him, but he was used to it already. After Harry had announced formally that they were a _thing_ together – he’d started being recognized in public. He could even go into shops that were coined as vampire only without too many second glances. It was certainly a perk, dating the most powerful vampire in the world.

 _(14:08am) I’m bying a cake from the shope._ He typed into the phone, smiling at himself. He could see by the little red underlines beneath the words that he still wasn’t spelling everything right, but he was happy with his progress. His life was becoming more of a growing entity, rather than a stable misery. It made him feel happy – fulfilled in a way he’d never imagined he’d feel.

 _(14:08am) Chocolate please_ Harry responded and Louis just rolled his eyes. He was grateful for his vampire, he was grateful for his life and the oprotunites he was given.

 _(14:10am) your sister is here, by the way. She won’t leave until you get here._ Louis blinked a few times before he pressed the button that would make the message read aloud and followed along with the letters.

 

Niall ended up leaving with Ed, and when Harry came and picked him up, Louis was just happy for his friend that he didn’t have enough time to consider Harry’s anger about having left him alone.

“You worry too much.” He said softly, and Harry just rolled his eyes. “Take me to my sister.” He lifted his arms up, telling Harry to carry him. The vampire obliged with a little laugh, picking the human up and taking him to the car. It was a familiar, comforting gesture that always did a great job of reminding Louis that he loved the feeling of being in Harry’s arms.

The car ride home was filled with the both of them singing along to familiar tunes of the radio.

 

“Louis.” His sister said, standing from the couch immediately as he walked in. “Hi. I’m – sorry. For intruding like this I just – wanted to speak to you.” He nodded, going over to the girl and giving a small smile.

“Understandable. I was gone for quite some time, so, we didn’t really get that chance to catch up that we’d anticipated, yeah?”

“Yeah I’m – yeah.” She smiled softly.

“Want to talk over a cuppa? I can put one on if you’d like.”

“Sure.” Louis went over to the kitchen and set on his usual kettle.

“Do you want one, Harry?”

“Sure, love. Thanks.” He heard from the living room and added a bit extra water, then sat at the kitchen table and motioned for Lottie to join him. She did so with a shy smile, sitting right beside him.

“You call him _Harry?”_ She said, almost in an unbelieving tone. “To his face?”

“Well… yeah? Why wouldn’t I?” He quirked an eyebrow.

“God – so it’s all true, then? You and him really are a thing?”

“Yeah.”

“My dad actually had a cow when he heard those rumors.” She said with a laugh. “Something about how fate had decided to kick him upside the head for being such a prat. He’s been drinking a lot more since that day, you know? The day you came by. I know he feels bad about – but I worry that he only feels bad because you got what he wanted from me.” Louis wasn’t entirely sure what he was expected to say to that, so he just folded his hands on the table and looked to her, trying to key her into continuing.

“I know you still resent them, Louis. I would too. You have every single right to resent all of us and never want anything to do with the lot of us ever again, but I really hope that you know my mum and I care deeply for you and your well being, even if we don’t know you all that well. Because to us, you’re still our family. I know my dad’s a prat, he’s never – he doesn’t like humans. But maybe once day if you give him that chance he’ll come around?”

“I appreciate the gesture, Lottie. You’re welcome around here any time you want, and maybe I can salvage a relationship with… mum one day. Maybe. But unless your dad decides to take the initiative and try and find me first, I don’t think I’ll be interested in anything he has to say to me. Because you’re right. I do get a lot of faux respect from vampires who want nothing to do with humans just because Harry and I are dating. It’s – it’s hard to decipher sometimes. So I certainly don’t’ want that anywhere near me or my immediate family.”

“I understand, Lou.” The teapot chose that moment to start screaming, so Louis stood and poured the water into three cups, letting the tea bags sit inside for a few seconds before taking them to the table.

“Do you want to meet Harry, like, properly? I’m sure he’d like to meet you.”

“Well – I _did_ kind of harass him until he let me in here earlier… So I think proper introductions are um, a bit, yeah, overdue.” Then there was a laugh from the livingroom and Lottie’s face turned red. He was starting to see how they could be related. “Fuck. I forgot about the vampire hearing!” She covered her face with her hands and Louis just rolled his eyes.

“Harry.” Was all he had to say and the vampire was settling into the chair beside him. “Alright, Lottie, this is Harry. Properly. Harry this is Lottie.”

“Lovely to meet you, again.” Harry said and tossed the human girl a playful wink, which only made her cheeks grow redder.

“It’s nice to meet you too, sir.”

“Please, you can drop the formalities. I really don’t even understand where they came from. It makes me feel old.”

“You are old.” Louis said with a laugh and Harry rolled his eyes.

“Doesn’t mean I have to feel it, you little menace.” Louis’ eyes met Lottie’s, which were still wide in a disbelieving look, but Louis just gave a smile in return. He knew how many people were in awe of their relationship – and even if he didn’t entirely understand _why_ he understood that it was unorthodox for a vampire to openly love a human.

The three of them were able to just enjoy their tea together after that, throwing in little bits and bobs of small talk as the day went on and Louis was slowly starting to feel an odd comfort from having someone from his biological family around. He’d, of course, hoped that the two of them would have been able to build up some kind of relationship, some kind of trust, but he couldn’t have ever anticipated how great it would have felt to be able to have that piece of him that he hadn’t had for his life.

“I have to go, Lou. But, we can keep in touch yeah?”

“Sure. Would you like my mobile number?”

“You got a mobile?” She asked, that unbelieving voice back in full force. “Sorry, sorry. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Harry actually signed off on my ownership papers, so I’m free. If that’s why it was a little odd for you to think I have one. But yes, I do. I still can’t read very well, so sometimes texting is hard, but you’re welcome to call me whenever you’d like.” He found a paper and wrote down his number for her, smiling at the shocked expression.

“Alright, Lou. I’ll – I’ll call you. For sure.” He nodded.

“I’ll show you out. Lou, you look kind of tired. Want to go get ready for bed?”

“Yeah. Been a long day. See you later, Lottie.” He wasn’t actually tired, but he could understand the social cues that were put in place to try and dismiss him. He’d learned those very well over the years of living with Zayn because Zayn was never quite rash enough to just tell him to fuck off.

It didn’t mean he wasn’t going to eavesdrop, though.

“You’ve done him very well. I really – you know I really can’t thank you enough for how well you’re treating him and giving him a life he deserves” Lottie says and Louis smiles softly. “I still remember the day we had to leave him and – it was hard. It was so hard for me and my mum. My dad didn’t really seem too affected, but you know. He’s a bit of a prick. But thank you for giving him something great. I worried so often that he’d end up with someone who would hurt him or kill him.”

“I want to give him everything the world can offer, really. He’s my favorite.” Harry said and Louis preened. “You’re welcome here any time, really, and if you or your mum need anything at all, you’re welcome to call me, alright?”

“Alright. Thank you again.” He expected to hear the door close after that, but instead Lottie spoke again. “And I know I can’t really do anything to you – but if you _do_ hurt my Louis, I might just – you know what. I’ll find something.” Harry laughed.

“Threat taken. I won’t hurt him, though. Don’t worry.”

“All right. Good bye, Harry.”

“Good bye, Lottie.” Then, finally, the door opened and closed.

“I can see that your attitude runs in the blood line, then.” Harry said and Louis laughed. Of course he knew Harry knew he was standing there, just because Harry always seemed to know.

“Probably.”

“Are you alright? I know the family thing is still a bit sensitive of a subject for you.”

“Yeah I’m – I’m actually great. I feel great.”

“I’m so glad, Lou. Let’s go to bed, though, for real? Okay?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” They went upstairs and retired into bed together, Harry’s arms around his own and everything felt great once again.

 

Niall came home about a week later, knocked on the door and had a wide smile on his face. Louis let him in, since Harry wasn’t home, but the blond vampire took him into a tight hug. Louis wasn’t sure what to say, so he just kept quiet. He was happy for his friend if he was going to be happy, and from what he could tell, this happiness was just barely a taste of what was going to come. “So, what’s happened then, Ni? You look like you’ve just found the meaning to life and all of that.”

“I think I have! I’m so! Ed and I have been together, right. And he still loves me. He said he could never stop loving me just because I was changed. And then we talked about everything that happened and he doesn’t blame me and everything is great and good and I’m _so_ happy.” Niall was actually crying, happy tears pouring down his face. “He wants me to move back in with him again, and I said yes, of course. So I think – yeah. I’m gonna go and live with him again.”

“I’m so happy for you, Ni. That’s great. But you know I told you soooo.” Niall rolled his eyes and playfully punched Louis on the arm. “I told you so, I told you so.”

“Shut up.” The blond vampire laughed and Louis smiled.

“You really are the best, though, Ni. Anyone who could turn you down just wouldn’t be in their right mind, and I stand firmly beside that notion, okay?”

“Okay. I love you, Lou. You know I couldn’t have asked for a better best friend?”

“Of course you couldn’t have! I’m wonderful!” Niall punched him again, but eventually they settled down to watch a film and everything felt like it was going to be okay. It _was_ okay, but that moment was the peak of things. Everything was in place for him, everything was in place for his best friend, everything was fall in place for everyone in his life that mattered and that was such a satisfying feeling. To be able to let himself grow and watch the people around him grow, it was an amazing feeling. “When are you leaving?”

“Probably tomorrow. I lost years of being with him, so I don’t want to waste even a moment longer of being without him.”

“I understand, Ni. You don’t have to explain anything to me if you don’t want to.”

“Thanks, Lou.” They stayed together on the couch, cuddled up and enjoying their last day together as much as possible. Harry came home a while later and joined them, but Louis stayed curled up with Niall instead of Harry. It was strange, something that hadn’t really ever happened before, but the older vampire seemed to understand well enough.

 

“Harry?” Louis asked that night, the darkness surrounding them as they were cuddled up in bed.

“Yeah?”

“When are we going to leave again?”

“I don’t know yet, Lou. Within a few months. Why? You still want to come?”

“Of course I still want to come. I do, definitely. I was just wondering is all.”

“Okay, love. I’ll give you much more notice this time, too. So really don’t worry about being forced to make a last moment decision again, alright? That was a fairly rude thing of me to do the last time.”

“It was nice, actually. I don’t know if I would have said yes if you would have given me time to dwell on it before.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Louis kissed him softly, then, and the rest of the night was spent with lazy touches and soft kisses and gentle moans that they shared in little moments that were wonderfully _theirs._

 

_I'm gonna pick your brain and get to know your thoughts_

_So I can read your mind when you don't wanna talk_

_And can I touch your face before you go_

_I collect your scales but you don't have to know_

Inside Out – The Chainsmokers

 

** One Year Later **

 

Returning to home that was entirely, fully, truly their own was a feeling Louis considered indescribable. It wasn’t Zayn’s home – it wasn’t a home that they had to call theirs and someone elses, it was entirely, wholly, theirs. A small little flat on the top floor of a London complex, big enough to keep them happy together rand big enough to let them have their space when they needed, but small enough that Louis didn’t feel overwhelmed or lonely when he returned to it.

They’d been in America for nine months, after a visit to France for two, and Louis’ dream of travelling the world felt like it was being fulfilled, too. He and Harry had started sharing their little “where I’ve been” map – Harry’s pins were red and Louis’ were blue, and there were enough of both of the colors that Louis didn’t feel like he’d been trapped his entire life anymore. He felt like he was getting the chance to live in a way he’d never imagined for himself before.

So there they were, their suitcases strewn about on their bed and random items tossed about the room since neither of them wanted to touch them just yet – as they held each other on the couch.

“Harry?” He asked, voice soft. But, as always, Harry could hear him.

“Yes, my love?”

“Remember when you said you had resigned me to death? Said you could accept the fact that I never wanted to be changed?” The vampire cringed softly, his face twisted into a look of sadness, but Louis took that moment to kiss him. “I think – I’ve changed my mind. I would like you to change me one day.” Harry looked at him, eyebrows furrowed in a look Harry couldn’t decipher.

“Louis, I –“ Harry paused, as if thinking about exactly what he was going to say. “If you still want me to change you, I will. Of course I will. It would be a pleasure and the happiest day of my life if I could be able to spend the rest of eternity by your side, but I just want to talk you through this, tell you all of the things you’d be missing if you did decide to change.”  Another pause. “I didn’t get the chance to choose, so I want to give you the chance to choose.”

“Thank you, Harry.” Louis said softly.

“When I was changed – I was um, I was a houseboy for my neighbor. I tended to their plants and tutored their children in my spare time between school and a real job I had. They were the runners of the slave trade at the time – something that was completely normal then – so they often weren’t home.” Harry said softly. “And I was really quite a clumsy kid, you know, especially as a human. I was eighteen when I really started doing tutoring seriously, because I did want to be a teacher then. Back in those days. But I ended up breaking something – very, _very_ expensive inside of my neighbor’s home. I don’t even remember what it was, now, and it was worth far more than my parents were willing or able to pay for, so.” He paused, stared off into the window for so long that Louis almost thought he was going to quit telling his story. “My life was worth less than some – material item, I suppose. Being an educated boy sold off into the slavery system wasn’t common, so only the wealthiest really got to bid on me. And someone I’d never seen or even heard of ended up taking me in.”

He didn’t really – he wasn’t all that _strange_ I suppose, but he had that same feeling I know you got around me the first time we met, that odd feeling that you can sense something powerful about them.” Louis knew what he was talking about, nodded his agreement. “He changed me within the first year of being there, didn’t give me the choice or an option. Then he tossed me out and said, ‘stay out of the sun unless you want to die’.”

“I’m so – I’m so sorry, Harry.”

“Don’t be, Lou. It’s alright. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him, yeah?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“But I did resent him. I still – I still _do._ He took my humanity away from me and I don’t want you to ever feel that way towards me.”

“What happened to him, if I can ask?”

“I killed him.” He said softly. “I pushed him out of a window into the light. He wasn’t old enough to survive it, either.” Harry frowned. “It made it feel somewhat better, I guess. Because I couldn’t hear his voice in my head anymore, saying I was only there to be his little servant for the rest of eternity.” Louis cuddled in closer to him. “But you’ll lose a lot, Lou. Your change story wouldn’t be traumatic, of course. I’d hope not at least, but you’re going to lose parts of your humanity you won’t even know you appreciated until they’re gone.”

“I know, Harry.”

“No, you don’t. Listen. Food will never quite taste the same again. And that’s trivial, I know. But its something so _human_ that it’s hard to be around humans without it. It’s there, and the sense of it actually tasting decent comes back within a few decades, but it takes a while. And sunlight. I know you love the sunlight. Would you really be able to go without it for four-hundred years?”

“I’m sure I could manage.”

“You can’t really go around humans, either. I’m not sure how Niall does it – because every other young vampire I’ve seen can’t go anywhere near a human without attempting to drain them.”

“Harry.”

“And then there’s the –“

“Harry, I know. I know it’s a permanent and hard decision. But I want to. I want you to change me. Not right away, of course. Soon. But not right away.”

“Okay, Lou. Okay. If that’s still what you want and you’re entirely certain, I won’t deny you that.”

 

Six weeks later, Louis decided it was the night.

“Happy birthday, Lou.”

“Thank you, Harry.” He kissed him softly, running his hands through his curls. “I want to do it tonight.”

“Are you sure?” Harry still seemed hesitant on wanting to change him. It was fine – Louis understood where that hesitancy was coming from because he knew the vampire only ever wanted to make him happy. But he had a feeling that spending the rest of his life with the vampire he loved wouldn’t be enough, he wanted to have _forever._ He didn’t want to just become a memory and another loss piled up on Harry’s life.

“Yes. I’m completely sure.” Harry nodded softly, took him to their bedroom and let the both of them settle down.

“Okay. Do you know how it works?” He ran his fingers through Louis’ hair and placed a gentle kiss to his temple.

“No, not really.” Harry tensed.

“Okay. Okay.” Then there was a pause. “Lou? You know I have to – I’m going to have to kill you. You’ll come back, but – you have to be prepared for that, alright?”

“Okay.” He smiled softly. “I want everyone here. Can everyone else be here for it, too?”

“Yeah, of course. When?”

“One last dinner together, and then we can do it.”

“At Zayn’s?”

“Yeah.”

 

So they were all sat together at Zayn’s house – the extensions in the table put together since everyone was there. Zayn, Liam, Niall, Ed, Lottie, him, and Harry, were all gathered around the dining table having one last dinner to enjoy him being a human. Louis didn’t like to think of it like that, though, he thought it was a celebration for what was to come.

His mum and Lottie ended up leaving, along with Niall and Ed once their meal was over, since Louis really only wanted Zayn and Liam and Harry to actually watch it all happen. They all seemed to understand, and Lottie held him tightly with the promise of calling, since they wouldn’t be seeing much of each other for quite a while.

Harry had him laid out on the bed, a knife in his hand and a happy smile on his face. “You’re sure, then?” Harry asked one more time.

“Of course I’m sure, love.”

“Okay. Here we go.” Harry had walked him through the process a few times, and it was somewhat odd, to think he was going to have to drink Harry’s blood – since _he_ was the vampire, but then again, nothing was weird to him anymore. So when Harry made a cut at the center of his wrist, Louis blinked a few times before he took his mouth to the wound and let the odd taste fill his mouth.

It wasn’t long before his head was already feeling somewhat fuzzy, and he felt Harry’s fingers in his hair again. “I’ll see you really soon.” Harry said softly and then – _oh._

He squeaked when he felt Harry’s fangs plunge into his neck. Zayn was holding his hand, now, and Liam was still stroking his fingers through his hair. He was surrounded by all the people he loved, and he’d never been happier.

Even as his entire body started to feel cold, as everything started to spin and dark spots went around his vison, he still didn’t regret anything. Before long, everything went completely black, and his chest hurt more than anything had ever hurt in his life – but then it was over.

His head was quiet.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (spoiler, author sap)
> 
> Wow! What a ride this story has been... The epilogue will be up soon. Thank you all for putting up with my sporadic updates and my terrible use of dashes. This is definitely one of those stories I've grown too attached to to be able to end without a few words. You've all been very kind to me and thank you for reading and enjoying and letting Harry and Louis (and Zayn, and Niall, and Liam) grow as characters in this story with me and I always forget how pointless writing feels without a wonderful audience to share it with. 
> 
> I apologize for how long this last update has taken, life's still hectic. But I will have the last chapter up soon. 
> 
> I'm working on a new louis/harry story as well, for anyone who's interested in reading any more of my writings. It'll be around 50k words and given as a one shot, so you don't have to deal with my insane (lack of) updating skills. 
> 
> This does feel like an ending, though, doesn't it? But it's not, there's a bit more to it.
> 
> As always, feel free to follow me on tumblr: [here](http://futurxhearts.tumblr.com/)  
> Or, as a friend recommended, you can follow my (new) writing-based twitter [here](https://twitter.com/alex_4968) where I will post tweets that tell of updates and such. 
> 
> Thank you all again and see you next chapter for a final goodbye from this story :)


	9. Epilogue.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> End.

_These shallow waters never met what I needed_

_I'm letting go a deeper dive_

_Eternal silence of the sea. I'm breathing alive_

Faded – Alan Walker

 

Louis opens his eyes and the first thing he notices is how loud everything is. Every inhale of air, every heart beat, he can hear everything around him amplified in a way he’d never experienced before as a human, and it’s entirely, wholly overwhelming.

He thinks for a moment that he might throw up, but instead he rolls on to his side and takes a few deep breathes. The breathing feels foreign, like it’s an unnecessary chore that he will probably have to focus on and force himself to do.

The second thing he notices is how much brighter everything is. The lights are blinding – nearly, at least – and he puts an arm over his eyes to shield them from the burn. He can feel someone touching him, the gentle touches that he assumes are from his friends that are still around him.

“Turn the light off, you dimwit.” He hears Zayn say, and he can’t help but laugh. A gentle, airy laugh. It hurts, his lungs hurt, burn with every breath, but when he feels – _feels –_ the happiness radiating off of the bodies around him, it makes it all worth it. The lights go off and Louis decides then to take his arm away and just looks at all of his friends around him.

He feels closer to Harry in a way he’d never thought he could have been before. He thinks he can hear his thoughts, but his head is too jumbled to really be able to tell the difference between what could be his own and what might not be. He blinks once, twice, three times, before the world seems to become clearer and he thinks that he might be able to focus. “My throat hurts.” He says softly, croaks, rather. He doesn’t miss the way Harry tenses slightly, but he doesn’t really want to address that either.

“Come here.” Harry says softly, pulls him into his lap. Louis’ entire body feels weak and cold and like he’d been laying still for _years._ “If you just – bite right into my neck, you’ll feel better.”

“You’re not – human. Even I know that’s not how this works, H.” Louis whispers, because even a whisper still feels like he’s yelling – still sounds much too loud in the quiet confines of his bedroom.

“Trust me.” He hears it aloud and feels it inside of his chest, his heart, knows Harry is telling the truth with every piece of himself so he nods. It’s a lazy movement, an awkward following of his instincts that have him biting into his boyfriend’s neck until he tastes the same blood he’d had before.

Except it was different, now. He didn’t want to stop, didn’t know if he _could._

“’s okay Lou. I’ll tell you when it’s time to stop.” So he stayed there, kept himself attached to Harry until there was a gentle pull away and he let it take him. He blinked a few times, swallowed, and took a breath. He felt human, still, in an odd way. He knew there were differences, of course, the difference in the sensitivity of his hearing, of his sights, of the emotions he could feel from the people around him. But other than that, he didn’t feel any different than he had just a few hours before.

“Thank you.” He said softly and Harry ran his fingers through his hair again. “Why does that work?”

“It’ll work for the first five or so years of you being changed. Some kind of universal safe guard to keep you from killing too many humans, I suppose.” Harry’s words are somewhat slower than normal, and his pupils are dilated.

“I hurt you.” He says, the guilt building up intensely inside of his stomach. “God, I’m so sorry Harry.”

“You didn’t.” Harry says with a smile. “It’s just – it’s something similar to getting high, when a vampire gets bit by another. Similar to what Zayn did to you when you were a human, but instead of putting us to sleep it wakes us up.” It felt weird to have Harry referring to his human self in past tense, but he knew it was one of the things he was just going to have to get used to. One of those things that would come with this life that he’d chosen to be able to spend the rest of his days with his _real_ family. “I’ll show you one day.” He nodded and returned Harry’s smile.

“I’m kind of… I feel tired, but I also feel like I want to run.”

“I think sleeping would be your best option, Lou.” Liam says softly. “If you overexert yourself you’ll sleep for like, two weeks. Trust me. It’s what I did.”

“Yeah, he did.” Zayn says with a snort. “Little twit decided to never stop, for like, his entire first day as an immortal. Did everything he could in the time before the sun set and then was dead to the world for about two and a half weeks after.”

“So, go to bed is what you’re saying?” Louis asks. “Sounds like we’re going on a run then!” He says and they all laugh, but Zayn and Liam pull him into a hug, still surrounded by Harry and the four of them settle into a little pile, oddly comfortable.

“We’ll both be here in the morning, love. Don’t sleep on Harry for too long, I’m sure he’d get lonely, and then he’ll have to come and pester _me.”_ Zayn says with another smile and Louis laughs.

“You’re right. I’m – I feel really weird still. Will it feel like this for long?”

“It should be gone by morning. You’ll sleep through the night without breathing much, if at all, so your chest will stop hurting.” Harry chimed in. “And your sensitivity to sound and light should be gone within a few days, too, so we’ll keep the lights off and try to be quiet until it does.

He nods and leans up against Harry.

“How long was I out for?” He finally asks, looks around as if something would have changed in the short time he had really been dead.

“About two hours.” Harry says with a frown. “I was scared I’d fucked something up – and just – but I’m glad I didn’t. I’m so glad you’re back with us, Lou.”

“Me too. Take me to bed now?”

“Of course.”

“Good night guys.” He says to Zayn and Liam with a smile, but his eyelids are heavy enough that they’re already drooping when Harry sets him on the bed. When the covers are pulled up around him and Harry’s arms snake around his waist in a tight cuddle that he – finally – isn’t worried is going to choke him, he falls asleep without a care in the world.

 

He wakes up and there’s light shining through the window, onto the duvet just below where Louis’ head is. He turns to Harry, still fast asleep, and the panic swells in his stomach. He knows light is dangerous, knows it will kill him and he doesn’t know what to do. What if he moves in his sleep and he doesn’t wake up? He can’t only be considered immortal for one day – what a fucking waste that would be.

“Harry.” He tries softly, but his voice is still much too loud in the quiet of the room. He can’t tell if he’s still whispering or if he’s already shouting and it’s – it’s fucking with his head. So he tries to shake him instead, nudges his boyfriend with his arm from beneath the covers and that’s finally what wakes him.

“Hey.” He says softly.

“Hi.” Louis says back, lets the vampire place a little kiss on his nose. “The curtain opened. Scared me.” He says softly and Harry glances up.

“Here,” Harry says softly, takes his hand in his own and pushes his palm into the sunlight. Louis immediately tries to draw it back, and Harry allows him but just gives him a smile. “It will burn you badly after about thirty seconds, but if you’re just barely caught in it, it won’t hurt you. Unless your entire body is out in it, of course. That will kill you on the spot, but otherwise, you’re fine. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that sooner.” But the older vampire still gets up and closes the curtains tighter. He watches as he digs through a drawer and pulls out pins, and then one by one he pins the curtains shut.

It’s almost – symbolic. There’s a real, physical barrier between him and death, now, and Harry was the one who built it. Literally in the sense that Harry was the one who changed him, and now he pinned their curtains shut.

“My hero.” He says softly and kisses Harry again.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

 

Two weeks later, Louis’ sensitivities were long gone and he could actually handle being in a room with more than one person speaking without feeling like he was about to throw up and bang his head on the table at the same time. It felt good.

“Hey, Li?” He asked, sipping at his hot water. He’d tried to have tea a few times, a familiar go to when he was stressed or tired or just couldn’t handle the noise all around him, but it had ended up tasting awful. It was sour and bitter and didn’t taste right at all. Harry promised it would be back within a few years, so now he was just drinking warm water to try and mimic the feeling of having his tea, even if didn’t have the taste. It was all right.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think… I could come with you? Maybe? To the facility?” Harry and Zayn both looked over to him, eyebrows raised.

“No.” Liam says, much too quickly for Louis’ liking. “Sorry, sorry. No, Lou, you can’t. We don’t let any vampires in who are under ten years changed. Because we don’t want to put the kids at risk at all. I’m sorry, love.” Louis frowned, but her understood. He hadn’t realized exactly how much he was missing out on with being changed and being a young vampire, but he’d get used to it.

Apparently the perks of being changed didn’t set in until he was well past a decade changed. Whatever.

“But I promise, the day after your tenth anniversary, you can come with me. Gladly. I always had a feeling you’d want to come back with me one day, anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah. Liam’s always right, we all know.” Zayn cackled, Liam glared, Louis just winked. “But I’m really… I’m so _bored._ I want to move around, I want to do something. All of this sitting around is really starting to get boring.

“I can take you out for a run, if you’d like.” Zayn offers, and Harry’s eyebrows raise. “It’s been a while since we’ve had time to properly spend with just the two of us, hasn’t it? So, if you want, the offers there.” Zayn smiles and Louis is certain he’s about to buzz out of his skin.

“Shit yeah, I can go fast like you guys can, can’t I?”

“Probably not quite as fast, but you’ll get there.”

“Oi, that sounds like a _challenge!”_ Louis screeches and everyone laughs. “Lets go. Right now. Come on.”

“Okay, okay.” Zayn says with a laugh, puts both of their mugs into the sink and heads towards the back door. Louis is buzzing, beyond ready to have the chance to go back outside for the first time in two weeks. He knows that there’s moonlight and fresh air and life outside and he’s so excited to be a part of it all again, which is stupid and irrational, since he could have opened the door at any point over the last two weeks, but he chose not to.   
At this point, he was just trusting his vampires to guide him to what they thought was best for him in the increments that they knew would benefit him the best. “Stay with me, alright? I’ll slow down if you need me to.”

“You mean I’ll slow down if _you_ need me to.” Louis retorts and Zayn rolls his eyes. Zayn takes off running and Louis runs, too, but he isn’t – he isn’t sure how to make himself go fast. He thinks he’s still running at the pace he’d done as a human, until he sees the flashes of trees going by in a blur. There’s air against his face, cool and soft and comforting as he cuts through the forest.

He knows he wouldn’t be able to think fast enough to stop himself from hitting a tree, but he hasn’t hit one yet, so he trusts that that’s what his instincts are doing. He pushes himself faster when he sees Zayn a bit of a ways ahead of him, balls his fists and wills himself to go fastfastfast.

Zayn glances over to him and there’s a gentle smile there, a fondness he isn’t sure he’s seen from Zayn before. His hair is whipping back since it’s longer now, the tuft on the top pushed back by the sheer speed they’re running at and Louis can feel his own hair being pushed back, too.

Zayn makes a sudden left, a sharp turn but Louis doesn’t even have to think about it before his body is just _moving,_ turning with every instinct and agility he’d never known he’s had. He’s keeping up with Zayn, their feet pattering against the crunchy-leaf ridden ground with snaps and crackles that fill the empty air around them.

“Stop up here.” Zayn says, and Louis comes to a stop beside the vampire. They both lean up against a tree. “Just so you know, the only reason you can even keep up with me – “ Zayn is panting, but Louis feels fine. “Is because you’re drinking Harry’s blood. So you’re getting some of his powers out of it.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“You haven’t noticed? You can hear my thoughts. That’s how you knew to stop – I didn’t say that outloud.” Louis’ eyebrows shoot up, and then he grins. He hadn’t realized, actually.

“I actually thought you said that outloud.”

“Nope. Just like neither Harry nor Liam said what they wanted for breakfast this morning, but you thought they said it outloud and made it.”

“That’s so – weird!”

“Yeah. I’m glad I’m not there yet. I imagine it’s going to get kind of annoying soon, especially when some of us start thinking about fucking or something.”

“Oh, god. Poor Harry.” Louis says with a laugh.

“He’s learned to control it, over the years. He can turn it on and off whenever he wants. You, however, cannot. So, you’re stuck hearing everyone and their mum’s thoughts until you stop drinking his blood.”

“I’m not complaining. I guess it’s kind of cool.”

“You know, I was actually with Harry the first time he started being able to hear thoughts. It was way before technology and shit, you know, like, almost a thousand years ago. I was really young still. And he just turns to me and goes, ‘Why the hell would I want to hear about how much you like that bloke’s ass? Shut the fuck up.’ And I freaked out, naturally, which made him freak out too. And we both ended up going home without anything we planned on taking home.”

“I can imagine how awkward it must have been. Harry doesn’t really have anyone to look up to, so he doesn’t really know when new abilities are going to come, does he?”

“None of us have a clue. He turns 2000 in like, three decades. I’m putting my money on x-ray vison.”

“2,000?” Louis says, shocked.

“Yeah. I um – he really doesn’t know how old he is, though. I managed to track his … the other vampire older than me down, and they grew up together. She’s only six years younger than him, and she was born in 52 AD – so that means that he’s turning 2,000 in exactly thirty years.”

“Damn. You’re sneaky. Do you think he’d want to know how old he is?”

“I don’t think so. I think he has a decent concept of the fact that he _is_ the oldest living thing on the planet right now – besides like, trees, or whatever – but. I don’t think he’d like to know a number, no.”

“That’s just – that’s kind of incredible to me.”

“It’s insane, yeah. I mean, I’m a little less than half his age and he still even seems insanely old to _me.”_

“How old are you?”

“Don’t you know to never ask a lady her age?” Zayn says, forcing his voice an octave higher than normal and Louis laughs. “I’m 943 this year.”

“ _God.”_ He says softly. “Old man!” Zayn laughs. “Harry said that he – changed you because you were sick, though?”

“He did. There were a lot of Vikings in Europe during the time and I helped load and unload the ships. Some little rat bit me and I got something … not quite the plague, but I imagine it was similar. It was really gross. Pretty much my body was rotting while I was still alive.”

“I’m really sorry, Z.”

“It’s alright. The scars faded a long, long time ago. I’m glad I didn’t die from that, actually. Fuck that rat. I didn’t deserve to die because of a _rat._ ” Louis laughed and leaned his head against Zayn’s shoulder. “Do you want to run again for a bit? This stretch goes out for a long ways. It’s private land, owned by the country, so it’ll never be built on. Well, it stars on like that within like, ten miles ayway.”

“Sure.”

So they do. Louis doesn’t get tired, not even for a little while. He and Zayn pick up the fastest paces they can get out of each other and just _run._ He feels free – like he could do anything in the world.

“Oh, shit.” He hears from Zayn – he’s not sure if it’s in his head or not, but he looks to him anyway. “Come over here, to the right. Quick. Quick quick.” He stops, goes over to Zayn and sees the panic on his face.

“The suns going to come up before we can get home.” He says quickly. “There’s a bomb shelter bunker under here, and we’re going to be stuck there until the sun goes down. I’m so sorry, Lou. I’m so sorry.” Zayn says softly. Louis just gives a smile. “I didn’t even think to look at the time before we left – I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay Zayn. It’s okay. At least you’re still looking out for me, yeah?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” The vampire smiles and looks down, kicks a few rocks out of the way and pulls a latch up. “Hop down.” Louis nods and jumps down into the little room. Zayn follows shortly after, closes the door behind him and ushers Louis away from the little window on the door. “I’m going to step outside really quickly and just send Harry a message and tell him what happened, I’ll be right back.”

Louis nods and looks at the space around him.

It’s actually a decent size. There’s what looks to be a full sized kitchen and a sitting area, too. He considers venturing further into the back and exploring and looking around further, but he decides against it. At least until Zayn comes back. The very last thing he wants in his life is to get lost _underground._

Zayn came back in after a few moments, and he sighed deeply. “Harry’s upset. But. He’s happy I found a way to keep you safe. He said he’ll probably come in and join us at some point in the night.” Louis nodded.

“What was this thing?” He spins around on his heel, taking the surrounding areas in once again. There are a few paintings on the walls – which are painted a nice off white color – and the carpet looks like it would be soft if he were to lay down on it. It doesn’t smell bad, either, which was a pleasant surprise.

“In the time during the cold war, this old man lived in a house about half a mile from here. And his was terribly, terribly afraid that the world would go up in a nuclear bomb. So he hired me to help him build this thing. He’s dead now, his wife, too. And there was never any nuclear bomb. So I still come down here sometimes.”

“Give me a tour?”

“Sure.” The vampire went and flicked a switch. Two bulbs came to life, but it looked like there was supposed to be at least six. Louis could see well enough, even without the light, but it was a decent comfort. He followed him to the back parts of the room and through one of the doors.

“This was set to be the master bedroom. It has a bathroom, too.” He points over to the back. “This is probably where we’ll sleep tonight, since it’s definitely the cleanest.” Louis nods. They both walk to the room beside the master, and what seems to be a small girls’ bedroom is on the other side. “This was going to be their granddaughter’s bedroom. I don’t like to come in here too much. It seems kind of… sacred.” Louis nods and lets him close the bedroom door. Then there’s another, but there’s nothing in it. Just a bed. “This was going to be their daughter’s and her husband’s. But they both thought he was mad and didn’t ever bring anything into it.”

“Understandable. At least somewhat.” Louis says softly and Zayn gives him a small smile.

“Yeah. You’re right.” Zayn says with a little laugh.

“That’s really it for the bedrooms. Then the kitchen, which you saw. And the living room.”

“So it’s basically an underground house.”

“Yeah. Except it has lead built into the walls to keep anything dangerous out.”

“Kind of cool.”

“Yeah, for sure.” They both migrate to the dining room, then, and Louis clears the dust off of the chairs before they sit. “Louis?” Zayn says after a while and he has this look on his face that Louis can’t really decipher, so he just tilts his head to the side, a silent invitation for him to continue speaking. “You know… I really do miss you, a whole lot.” He says softly and Louis can’t help but frown. “It probably didn’t seem like it when you first started living with me, you know? Because I was… distant. I know I was. And I still am. But I guess I got really used to having you around all the time and – I just really miss being able to spend some time with you alone.”

“I miss you too, Zaynie. Maybe we should spend a little more quality time together, just the two of us?”

“I’d really like that.” The older vampire is chewing at his lip and Louis suddenly realizes how bad he feels about leaving Zayn without thinking about how he’d feel about it. He can’t imagine how he’d feel if Zayn had just up and left him – after being around each other constantly, it just became a normal thing, to be around each other. “And I know how it feels, to be so attached to Harry. I mean, of course I do. I was like that for _years_ with Liam – so I won’t take that little honeymoon phase away from you. But like you said, you kind of feel like a little brother to me, and I’d really like to be with you a little more often, if you can manage.”

“Zayn, I understand. I _can_ be away from Harry for a while without feeling too terrible.” The vampire quirked an eyebrow and that just made Louis laugh. “Okay, maybe it’s a little different with the maker and make relationship, since he’s literally in my head all the time. But this is okay, see? We’re alone now and I’m not trying to get back to him.”

“Just so you know,” Zayn laughs under his breath, “Harry is absolutely the worst maker on the planet. I’m sure it hasn’t gotten to you yet, since you haven’t spent a couple days away from him and won’t for a while, but when you finally do, he’ll like – man I don’t even know how to phrase it. He’s such a _mom._ Like he’ll remind you in your head to eat or to take a shower or to make sure you’re cleaning your clothes and it’s obnoxious.”

“That … actually sounds just like Harry.” Louis says with a little laugh. “But he already does that to me, I think. Like, the other morning I didn’t really want to get up but then I had this weird feeling Harry would come bug me about it if I didn’t, so I just did.” Zayn smiles and leans his head on Louis’ shoulder.

“Yep, that’s Harry for ya.” There’s silence for a while after that, Louis just thinking about all of the things in his life and the new powers and new things he knows he’ll get to experience now when Zayn whispers, “I’m so glad we get to keep you forever, though, Lou. You’re one of my favorite people ever.”

“You mean you’re glad I get to keep _you_ forever.” Louis says and sticks his tongue out with a grin.

“Oh, yes, of course. Excuse me.” They both laughed for a while after that, until Louis’ cheeks hurt from smiling so much. He’d almost forgotten how nice it was to be close to Zayn – to have someone be with him other than Harry. Maybe he’d grown slightly obsessed with the thought of being around Harry so much, but he’d start to branch off eventually. That much he knew for sure.

But for now, he was just going to enjoy his time with his friend in a weird little house underground until they weren’t stuck anymore.

 

_If you're lost, just look for me_

_You'll find me in the region of the summer stars_

_The fact that we can sit right here and say goodbye_

_Means we've already won_

Walking In The Wind – One Direction

 

** Five Years Later  **

“Okay, okay. Yeah. I get that.” Louis says, but the nerves are clear in his voice. Even he can hear that. “But like – how do I like, get them to agree?”

“Well… the place I’m taking you is, um, rather _well known_ for humans who kind of… get off to the whole thing. So. It won’t be hard.” Louis blinked a few times as the anxiety welled up in his chest. He didn’t like the idea of this – hated the thought of needing to harm a human for his own benefit. But it was his only choice at this point – and he could understand that.

Feeding from Harry wasn’t working anymore. It gave him headaches and left him hungrier than even before he’d eaten – so they both knew it was time for him to grow up and be able to have that separation from Harry that was necessary to him becoming more independent.

“That sounds just lovely.” He said with a sigh, trying to use his typical sense of humor to alleviate some of the stress that he was already feeling.

“I know you’re nervous, love, but it’ll be fine. I’ll be right there with you the entire time, okay?”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too, Lou. Ready?”

“Mhm.” Harry held out his jacket and he stuck his arms through the holes and let the older vampire shrug it the rest of the way around his body. It was normal, typical, for Harry to take care of him in little ways like that. He’d started noticing that much more frequently through the last few years, and it made his stomach twist with joy each time.

He loved the idea of Harry taking care of him and showing his love in different ways. Louis did it too, showed his love in ways that he could only hope that the older vampire could pick up on, but he was always happy when he could pick up on Harry’s.

They left, hand in hand, and Louis was buzzing with a sense of nervousness and maybe a bit of excitement, too. He was ready to show Harry and everyone else that he could be by himself if he needed to be, that he wasn’t just a baby vampire anymore who couldn’t do anything on his own. He was beyond ready to show everyone that he could do this.

So they walked into the club, Harry’s hand at the small of his back in a comforting gesture as they skipped the line and were let right in. Another perk of dating Harry, he thought.

“Okay. I’ll talk someone up for you, okay? Cause I want them to know you’re young still – gotta find someone whose still willing despite that.”

“Right. Okay.” He said with a little nod and followed Harry over to the bar. He kind of just tuned it all out after that. He hadn’t been out in public in a long while – not with humans, at least, and the sound of all the _blood_ surrounding him was making his head hurt. He could hear everyone’s heart beat, could hear everyone’s breathing around him and it was uncomfortable. “H.” He said softly, trying to get the older vampire’s attention, but he was deep in conversation with the human girl, and she was nodding and he felt like he was going to fall over.

“Hi.” A girl said, approaching him with a smile. “Would you like to dance?” She had fresh-looking marks all around her neck – like she was a frequent in this club, and Louis suddenly didn’t want to say.

“Yeah, sure.” Logic wasn’t really what was at the top of his head at that moment as he led the girl out onto the dancefloor and let her lean her head on his shoulder. It was obviously an invitation.

“You can. Whenever. I like it.” Louis took in a sharp breath, but he waited for the first song to end before he decided he’d waited much too long. He attached his mouth to her neck, just licked over the spot first before he bit down and the blood filled his mouth slowly.

It was like every sense in his body was heightened, but calmed all at the same time. He couldn’t focus on anything except how good it made him feel – how the lethargy slipped out of his body and he felt _refreshed._

“Louis!” He heard after a moment, but he didn’t flinch. He could feel a sharp pain in his shoulder, something like nails digging in, but he could only assume that meant the human girl was having a good time. “Louis,” It was Harry. “Baby, come back to me. Lou.” Harry was stroking a hand through his hair and Louis blinked a few times and realized – the girl was _dead._ Well, not entirely dead. He could hear the faintest of a heart beat in her chest, but it was so barely there that it sounded like it could be gone at any moment.

He panicked and dropped her. Harry sighed softly.

“I think we’re done here for tonight.” The older vampire said and Louis couldn’t say anything, watched as he dialed the emergency number on his phone and sat with the girl at the bar, him beside him until they arrived. He spoke with the paramedics for a moment, and Louis was stunned.

He didn’t cry until they were in the car, but when he did, it wouldn’t stop. Even as they arrived home and went to their room. Harry carried Louis and the younger vampire kept his head rested on Harry’s shoulder.

He didn’t stop crying until nearly a week later.

 

The guilt was _still_ eating Louis alive.

He sat on the couch that night, arms curled up around his legs as they were pulled up to his chest and stared off at a wall. He’d ended someone’s life. He’d _killed_ someone who trusted him enough to stop when he was done. He’d killed someone who was just trying to have a good time doing something they enjoyed because he couldn’t control himself.

He felt sick.

“Lou, love.” Harry said, taking a seat beside him with a mug of tea. “I know this is hard for you – of course it is. I understand what you’re going through but please don’t beat yourself up.”

“I killed someone Harry.” He said softly, and then the tears started rolling again. His stomach was coiled tight and he wrapped his arms tighter around his body, almost like he was trying to disappear. Harry ran his fingers through his hair.

“Love, listen to me for a moment, okay?” Louis sniffled but looked up to the older vampire and nodded twice. “You feel guilty about what you did, yes?” Louis nodded again. “That’s good. I’m – I’m over the moon that you feel guilty because that means you’re not going to let yourself do it again. This is why I didn’t let you hunt for a few years, yeah? Because you’ve got your humanity back now, you know who you are and you’re still in touch with your morals. So now, the next time we go out and hunt together, you won’t let yourself get to that point. Because you’ve experienced it and you know what it’s like to end a life and you don’t want to do that again, right?”

“Yeah. I guess.” He sniffled again, but the guilt was still deep inside of his chest and it was still hard to breathe. He could still see the girl’s face – clear as day when she realized he’d passed that point of being able to stop, the way she’d started fighting and – _god._ He hadn’t been able to pick up on this little signs at the time, but now they were burned into the back of his eye lids.

“I know it’s hard, love. It’s going to be hard for a little while, okay? But I know you’re strong and I know you can get over this.” Louis nodded, leaned into the older vampire and let him play with his hair some more. Of course Harry was right, he always seemed to be, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

He’d always hated vampires because they took away life from humans so often – but now he’d become what he _hated_ and it was just. It was a terrible feeling of dread and just pain. But he’d get over it. Harry was right.

 

Eventually, he got over it.

He and Harry went out together, Louis managed to help some younger guy get off while he got his dinner and then they left without another word about it, really.

It was kind of… it was just _weird_ in general. But he wasn’t going to complain about it – because if these humans were willing to come in here and let vampires like them feed off of them for their pleasure, well, Louis wasn’t going to judge anyone for what they were in to.

 

The days and weeks and even years just seemed to blur on after that. Louis’ life didn’t really change as much as he’d assumed it would when he was changed, rather, he just did all of the same things he’d been doing before, except now he knew he could do them _forever._ He wasn’t entirely sure if it was a comfort or a bit unnerving.

He’d taught himself to read and spent a lot of free time doing it – taking Harry’s recommendations and getting the most out of everything he could. There were little things that he could do to keep himself grounded, to keep himself from feeling like he was just going to fade into oblivion and never make anything of himself.

Like tonight.

His sister was finally getting married. She’d found a nice guy who seemed to treat her well, so he and Harry were going to the wedding. Where his entire family would be.

Including his father.

“Okay, okay. So. I’m good. Do I look okay? Shit. This is a bad idea. I change my mind. Let’s go home.” Harry smiled softly and adjusted his tie one last time, pulled it straight and straightened up his jacket. Louis rustled around too much when he was nervous, so things like that really helped ground him.

“If you really want to change your mind, we can. But I don’t think you want to. I think you’re just nervous.”

“Well, I am nervous.”

“I’m sure he’s just as nervous.”

“Yeah, maybe. But still.”

“Come on.” Louis nodded and took Harry’s hand in his own as they walked into the little restaurant, still hand in hand. He hadn’t spoken to his father yet – had only kept his family relationships between his sister and his mother. But now… it felt right. It felt right to go in and be able to confront all of his family. It had been almost five full years since he’d had a face to face meeting with his mother and sister, just out of the fear that he’d end up hurting one of them, so this was also going to be the first time he’d see them in person.

Skype calls and face time and phone calls and texting just weren’t the same.

This was the little family get together right before the wedding – apparently a Tomlinson tradition – and Louis smiled as Harry told the hostess that they were in the Tomlinson Party and they were led to the back.

“Lou!” Lottie called out and stood from her seat and took him into a hug. He hugged her back, gently. He’d had a bit of trouble with giving hugs out – since his strength was much, much different from when he was human. Harry had never complained since he was stronger, but after Niall had said he felt like he was crushing him, he’d taken that into a little more consideration. “Wow, you look great. Come on, sit, it’s all good. This is Marc, my fiancé. The twins, of course, all of the other little spawns of our family, my best friend, Lux, and um.” She paused, looking at him and then their father once. “Lou, dad. I don’t think you two have formally met yet.”

“Hello, everyone. This is my boyfriend Harry.” His father was staring at him at that point, watched as Harry pulled his chair out for him and Louis could imagine the conflicting emotions in his head so he wasn’t going to say anything. Perhaps they’d have a conversation later.

“Lou!” Doris screeched and ran over to him, climbing up in his lap. “You’re bigger in real life than on mummy’s phone screen.”

“Just barely.” Harry says and Louis elbows him with a laugh.

“Hi, sweetheart. It’s great to finally see you. How’s your butterfly?” The last time they’d spoken, she’d found this little cocoon in their tree outside and had told Louis all about it and explained how it was going to change really soon.

“It changed into a really pretty blue winged one so Lottie and I let him go outside.”

“Good on you, love. I’m sure he would have gotten lonely in that little jar.”

“Were you lonely, Lou?” Ernest asked after a moment and Louis kind of tensed up. He knew the twins were much too young when the whole system had to be explained to them, and it was done rather badly, but Louis played it off.

“Nah. I had a great time with my second family.” He said with a grin and Ernest took that information and ran off with it. The kids mostly weren’t sitting – but there were so many of them, both adults and kids – that they’d rented out the entire back room, so it didn’t matter.

Harry was speaking to Lux about some kind of business and something or another in Japan and Louis didn’t bother to listen to that, so he just kind of shyed away from the awkward eye contact his father kept making. He assumed it was some kind of social queue that he was supposed to say something to him, but he wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to take that step.

Eventually, the food came out and Louis just had water. It was unfortunate, since the only things he could really taste at only five-years changed were incredibly spicy foods. He didn’t really want to embarrass himself in that way just yet, so he kept his water.

He spoke with Lottie’s husband for a while, and he seemed nice enough. He was a vampire, which he assumed was mostly because of what their father wanted, but he wasn’t going to say anything bad about that.

Before long, the evening was over and they all were left with the promise to see each other the following week for Lottie’s wedding. The couple left first, saying they had an early night with the final meeting with the wedding planner the next day. Louis understood and waved them both goodbye, kissed his sister on the cheek and promised he’d see her soon.

“It was really lovely to see you, Louis. Does this mean I can come visit again? Facetime just really doesn’t do it for me anymore.” His mum said after a while, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Course, mum. You’re welcome whenever you please. I just can’t go out in the sun still.”

“Alright, love. I’ll hold you to that.” She started getting all of the kids out to the car and – Harry had a hand on his shoulder as his father walked towards him. Harry gave a gentle, reassuring squeeze but it didn’t really solve the ache in his chest.

“Hello, Louis.” He said softly and – Louis could hear the guilt. He could hear everything there that he highly doubted the man would ever say. “Hello, Mr.Styles.” He said and nodded his head in respect. Harry nodded in acknowledgement. He loved that Harry didn’t immediately put up that charming front with him, just because he knew Louis wasn’t quite ready to finish being cross with him.

“It’s okay, H. I can… I’ll come out to the car in a minute, alright? I’ll be all right.”

“Kay. See you soon, love.” Harry said and then walked out.

“Hi, dad.” He said after Harry was gone.

“I suppose we have a bit to talk about, don’t we?” The older vampire said and ran a hand through his hair.

“No, to be quite honest. I think you have a shit tonne of apologizing to do – and then you have even more explaining to do. Because I know the only reason you’re talking to me right now is because I’m not human anymore and – I’m leaving to my car in five minutes. So you have that much time.” Louis was stern in his voice. He’d practiced this little speech in his head at least a dozen times and he was proud of himself for not stumbling.

“Okay, okay.” A pause. “I honestly wish I had a better reason for you – but I don’t. I do – _did_ have a massive bias against humans. And then I fell in love with your mum, yeah? She’s human and I thought – I don’t know what I thought. She wont let me change her and I’ll respect that decision – but at the time. When I first married her, I mean, it was like. I didn’t like the idea of having a human child being related to me – I guess. Because you were so young, and I knew you’d grow up and call me dad and Lottie would too.” Another pause. “The intention was to leave both of you there, if that’s something you’re still angry about. It wasn’t – I didn’t want it to be just you. It’s not that I had something against _you_ personally. You were only two… I didn’t – your mum just convinced me that Lottie would be able to find a vampire to fall in love with since she’s – I don’t know. It made sense at the time.” Another pause. Louis didn’t feel any better. “I felt terrible about it, as the years went on. I really did. I even went back one time, when you were about six. They said it was too late and they didn’t trust that I wouldn’t just abandon you again and it would emotionally damage you or something – so I gave up after that.” It was silent for a long while after that and Louis figured he was done.

“So that’s it, then?”

“No. That’s –“ He sighed. “Please don’t think I’m only trying to salvage a relationship with you because you’re a vampire now. Please don’t think that.”

“That’s not what I’m thinking.” Louis said. “You want to know what I think? I think you’re intimidated because I’ve got Harry. Harry’s head over heels for me and I’m the same for him and quite frankly, I think that makes you bitter. I think you despise the fact that I have, by all rights, more power than you and you tossed me out like rubbish because you thought I wasn’t worth your time, your affections.” The man’s gaze grew hard. “And I think that’s absolutely hilarious. Because you did ruin my life. You ruined every human opportunity I could have gotten. For fucks sake, I couldn’t even read until last year! But now I have everything, more than you could ever even _wish_ to have and I know you resent that.” Louis was seething anger now. “So I think you’re trying to salvage a relationship with me because you want to be on Harry’s goodside. You think you’ll benefit from it, in the same way you would have if Lottie would have fallen for a more powerful vampire.”

“Louis –“

“No. I think you need to stay out of my life. I’m certainly not going to stay away from my _family_ because you don’t see me the way you should have all along, so I intend to be around. But I expect you to respect me in the same way every other vampire on the planet does.” Only then did the older vampire smile. Louis was confused, slightly, but he didn’t say anything.

“I’m so proud you can stand up for yourself, son. I’ll abide by your wishes, and maybe one day you’ll figure out that what you said isn’t true. But I’ll let you do that on your own time.”

Louis went back out to the car, stunned, and sat in the passenger’s seat silently. Harry didn’t say anything else, just kept a soothing hand on his thigh the entire drive back and – Louis was still processing, but he was happy with the outcome. He was proud of himself.

 

He and Harry moved back into their apartment together within the sixth year. Zayn and Liam had adopted a little human girl because they wanted a family, and Louis and Harry were going to give them their space to live and be a family without them there.

It wasn’t all that different, anyway, because Harry was still with Louis at almost all times when he wasn’t working and Louis was doing something whenever he was.

The only real difference that Louis had grown attached to was their little cat. Well – he wasn’t _their_ cat, just an ally cat that came to their window and scratched at it until they opened it and gave him some food and pet him for a while. He’d come in a few times and cuddled on Louis’ lap while a film was playing, so, Louis considered him close enough to their cat.

It felt nice to be able to care for something.

He was able to go out by himself at that point and eat when he needed to – had done so for a while without killing anyone else, and he was really living like a real vampire now.

The years went on, as they always seemed to do.

Louis was called uncle Lou by Zayn and Liam’s daughter, and he was happier than he’d been in a long time. Life was falling in place and he felt like everything was okay, but there was also some kind of missing piece he couldn’t really pinpoint.

Maybe he felt a little… sheltered. So he made a little decision – he wanted to leave for a while, on his own. He’d thought about it for months, thought about it and thought about it until every detail was planned out and perfected and ready and he was ready to have the conversation with Harry.

“H.” He said softly, that night, crawling into the older vampire’s lap.

“Hey, love.” He kissed him softly and they talked. Harry asked questions and he looked wounded and Louis answered his questions and tried to make it hurt less for both of them but – he felt like he needed this. For himself. For his future.

It wasn’t that he felt like he was trapped, because he wasn’t. That was the farthest feeling from the truth that he could imagine, but looking at the hurt in Harry’s eyes after what he’d said – maybe he _was._ Maybe he was trapped here because he knew Harry loved him so deeply – but Harry had already had these chances to experience all of the things that he was beginning to be ready to branch off and experience for himself.

He wasn’t sure it would be quite the same to be able to experience them without Harry, but he knew he wanted to experience them no matter what, and if that meant straying off and doing it by himself, he wasn’t going to hold himself back with the simple fear that he was going to be lonely. That would just be a waste of his time, really. He had all of eternity and even beyond that to spend with his friends and Harry and to explore the world, so if he just left for a few years, just long enough to do the things he’d dreamt of as a human – he knew he would be able to fill in the holes that he’d always worried would fill his chest.

That deep feeling of being unfulfilled and _bored._ He did not deal with boredom well. It wasn’t anything against Harry – not at all – but the fact that he’d already had that chance to do all of the things he wanted was going to hold him back from doing them and he wasn’t willing to let that happen.

“It’s not forever.” He croaks out, voice raw. “I promise. I’ll see you again and it’ll be like I never left. I just have to do this for me – for _us._ Because if I don’t go now, I’ll only grow to resent you one day for holding me back. And I don’t want that. I love you Harry – I’m wildly in love with you and I’d never even imagine leaving you forever. So give me this. I’ll come back, I promise.”

“Okay, Lou.” He sounds wrecked, despite the fact that his face doesn’t show it. Harry’s always been hard to read, but that isn’t going to stop him now. He knows him better than to let this stop him. “I’ll wait for you. When you decide to come back – I’ll be here with open arms, okay?”

“Of course.” He smiles, hugs him tightly. “I’ll call often, I promise. This isn’t goodbye entirely, just in person.”

“I know.”

“I love you, H.”

“I love you too, Lou.” He kissed him softly, then, and Louis let it linger a moment. Even after their lips parted, he took a last moment to enjoy the closeness.

“Goodbye for now, Harry.” He said with a small smile and turned out the door. He had everything in front of him from then on – and it was terrifying but _incredible._ With a sudden realization that the entire world was his for the taking, he walked forward.

That was the only direction he could go from there.

And forward he went.

That night, he wrote a list, wrote everything he wanted to do, all the people he needed to see, all of the places he needed to go. It was everything he’d always wanted, written and described right in front of him. He was going to do everything here, have his chance to do the things he’d always dreamed about, and then he’d let himself have his forever with Harry.

 

_No baby this is not an illusion_

_I've really got my heart out on my sleeve_

_Oh baby this is not an illusion_

_There's magic between you and me_

Illusion – One Direction

 

** 52 Years Later **

The chances he’d had over the last few decades were things that he knew could never be surpassed in any other point in his life. He’d had the chance to explore and discover and experience things that he’d always wanted to. Of course, having Harry with him never would have inhibited these experiences, he knew that. But there was something different about being able to experience them all for himself, instead of with someone who’d already been there.

But he was happy now, content with all of the things he’d done. And frankly, he missed Harry so much that his chest ached. They’d seen each other several times, at least once per year, and talked on the phone dozens of times per year, but it never seemed to be enough. He’d always had that ache deep inside of him that made him want to return home. It wasn’t Zayn’s house that was _home_ – but rather just being with Harry gave him that same feeling. That same, comfortable feeling of content and happiness.

So he came back. He was coming back for good.

Louis took a deep breath as the house came closer. Not much had changed over the years, but rather it all felt like it was all exactly as it had been. Perhaps the trees had grown taller, or the wood of the boards around the house had grown older, continued to make their decay in the harsh London rain.

He continued, each step another promise of what he’d left behind and how it was still all here for him, just like he’d been told it would be.

He took the final step and raised a hand to knock on the door. He paused a moment, fist suspended in the air as he took yet another deep breath and then he knocked. Three taps on the large wooden door and it flew open.

Blue eyes met green for the first time in decades and Louis could only use one word to describe the feeling, really: home. It smelled like cinnamon rolls inside and out of the corner of his eye he could see the oven mitts he’d sent to Harry a few years ago as a birthday present sitting on the kitchen table.

“Harry.” He said softly. The older vampire pulled him into a hug, tight enough that he almost thought he was going to snap in half but really it brought him back together, pulled everything that he’d _thought_ had been missing all along right back into his body and made him feel whole. He hadn’t felt like that in far too long.

“Welcome home.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feel free to follow me on tumblr [here](http://futurxhearts.tumblr.com/) or twitter [here](https://twitter.com/alex_4968) (Twitter is for writing updates only). 
> 
> Ask questions, yell at me, send me pictures of your pets/fan art. Comments and kudos are always appreciated!! Stay tuned for my next work(s) :-)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading – and if you _really_ enjoyed this story and want to support your local fanfic author, you can [buy me a cup of coffee!](http://ko-fi.com/A237HRB%20)
> 
> Key - 
> 
> Originals: humans who were taken to the facility to be sold on or before their fifth birthday.  
> Keep: how humans who belong to vampires are referred  
> RedHead: A slang term to describe vampires who can't control themselves or take advantage of humans in order to feed from them. Considered offensive to vampires.  
> FuckFeeder: A slang term for humans who are used as sexual objects rather than for feeding purposes. Considered the worst thing a human keep can be.


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